PRESTONSBURG - Two women accused of stealing from neighbors and friends and selling the purloined items at the internet marketplace eBay were back in court Friday for a preliminary hearing on a new charge lodged against them last week.

Gora Wicker, 59, and Deborah Wallen, 36, appeared before District Judge James Allen with Wicker, once again, waiving her hearing and Wallen choosing to hear the evidence against her before sending the case on to the grand jury.

Wicker's attorney, Jimmy Webb, asked that his client be allowed to sit in on the hearing. The request was approved by Wallen's attorney, Jerry Patton, who smiled as he gave assent to the request that Webb had vigorously argued against when it was Wallen who wanted to sit in on Wicker's hearing last month.

That hearing never happened, however, as Wicker appeared to have a nervous breakdown before the hearing could commence. The episode prompted Webb to waive the hearing on the condition that Wicker be taken out of jail for a mental evaluation.

She appeared recovered in court Friday and sat next to Webb as the alleged victim from the latest case testified about his experience.

The victim noted that he and his wife saw they had been robbed when they returned from vacation last February. He said that they began searching eBay for their lost valuables when they read reports of Wallen and Wicker in area papers. He testified that his wife knew Wallen well and that several of the items which were stolen had come from her as gifts. He said that he and his wife made an appointment with Prestonsburg Police to review their album of recovered items and were able to identify several items that had been missing.

When examined by Patton, the victim said he was not pursuing theft charges against the pair but had filed a charge of receiving stolen property against each for having the items.

Judge Allen found the testimony sufficient to send the charges on to a grand jury, which will review all of the cases brought so far to determine if the pair will be indicted for the thefts.