What would happen?
Lets assume that the law figures out that both brothers were involved in the robberies and that they used the money to pay off the ranch to keep it from being foreclosed. Lets also asssume that they have the proof to prove this out 100%.
What would happen in this situation? Both brothers would go to jail and would be responsible for the actions and crimes that they committed. What happens to the ranch though? The $40,000 bought off the ranch and kept it form foreclosing, but they were making way more than that afterwards. Are the sons responsible for giving back that $40,000 that was stolen, or would it go further than that? Would the bank argue that they technically should have foreclosed, and the bank owns all the oil and profit that they obtained from the stolen money invested in the ranch?