CHICAGO -Two brothers from suburban Chicago will serve prison time for stealing more than $50,000 in checks from President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports (http://bit.ly/VqHz35) that the brothers were sentenced Thursday to four years in prison.

They are 48-year-old Willard Elam of Dolton and 52-year-old Anthony Elam of Chicago Heights.

Both pleaded guilty to forgery charges in Cook County.

Authorities said the pair was recruited by Jessie Adams, of Joliet, to open up fraudulent checking accounts at two different Chicago area TCF bank branches.

The men opened the accounts using checks written by “Obama for America,” according to a police report.

It was unclear how the men got the checks but at the time, Obama’s campaign said in a statement that three checks were sent to vendors and “made it into the wrong hands.”

Adams, 36, is awaiting trial for allegedly organizing the financial scheme.