St. Louis County Man James Townes Jr. Admits Using Forged Deeds to Take 14 Properties

Published Oct. 20, 2026. Case status is current as of that date.

Most people never look at the deed to their home after closing. According to federal prosecutors in St. Louis, that blind spot let one man quietly put at least 14 properties that belonged to other people into his own name, his companies' names, or the names of friends and family, using forged signatures and fraudulently obtained notary seals.

On Oct. 15, 2026, James L. Townes Jr., 51, of Berkeley, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to a conspiracy charge, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced [1]. His co-defendant, Charnay Bartlett, 30, pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge in April and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 2. Townes is set to be sentenced on Jan. 21 [1].

Status: Both have pleaded guilty and await sentencing. The conspiracy charge carries up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 [1].

How the scheme worked

According to the plea announcement and the earlier superseding indictment [1][2]:

1. Pick a property. Beginning as early as Sept. 25, 2018, Townes filed deeds in St. Louis and St. Louis County on properties that belonged to others.
2. Forge the paperwork. The filings falsely claimed that Townes or his relatives had bought the properties. The true owners' signatures were forged.
3. "Authenticate" the forgery. Townes and Bartlett used fraudulently obtained notary seals to "authenticate" the forged signatures, according to prosecutors. The 2025 superseding indictment alleged Townes kept transferring properties even after his notary license was suspended.
4. Take the property. At least 14 properties were transferred to Townes, his companies, or his friends and family, his plea agreement says. In some cases, Townes gained access by forcing entry through locked doors and squatting there.

Townes admitted the scheme involved the names of 10 or more people and intended losses of more than $1.5 million. At least three of the property owners were dead when their purported signatures were "authenticated" [1].

The damage did not end with the filing. "The real owners had to expend considerable resources to regain the titles to their properties," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "Others abandoned their properties because they lacked the financial resources to initiate legal action" [1].

The people charged

James L. Townes Jr., 51, of Berkeley, Mo. Townes was first charged by complaint on June 10, 2025, and indicted that June. An Aug. 6, 2025, superseding indictment charged him with 25 counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud, access device fraud, unlawful production of an authentication feature, identity theft and aggravated identity theft, and accused him and Bartlett of using deeds to fraudulently transfer 16 residences and a duplex between September 2018 and April 2025. He initially pleaded not guilty [2]. On Oct. 15, 2026, he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge [1].

A separate case (status pending). In August 2025, Townes was also indicted in a separate case on one count of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud and four counts of theft of government funds. That indictment alleged that he falsely claimed to be disabled from February 2017 through August 2025 while, according to the indictment, running a business, acting as registered agent for 13 other LLCs, holding two investment accounts and filing property deeds [2]. The October 2026 plea announcement does not mention that case. Those charges are allegations, and their current status is unconfirmed.

Charnay Bartlett, 30. The 2025 superseding indictment charged Bartlett with conspiracy, fraudulently effecting transactions, four counts of unlawful production of an authentication feature and four counts of identity theft [2]. Bartlett pleaded guilty in April 2026 to the conspiracy charge and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 2 [1]. Bartlett's city was not given in the releases.

The HUD Office of Inspector General, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, the St. Louis County Police Department and the Hazelwood Police Department investigated [1].

Why deed fraud is hard to spot

The FTC describes title fraud plainly: "Title fraud is identity theft: someone pretends to be you and transfers your deed to someone else" [3]. Owners often don't find out until a stranger shows up at the property, a tax or utility bill stops arriving, or they try to sell or refinance. Vacant homes, rental properties and homes of people who have died are especially exposed, because no one is checking. In this case, at least three of the owners were deceased.

The FTC also warns that paid "home title lock" services can't stop a fraudulent transfer; they only tell you after it happens. "You can check your title for free with your state's land records office, and some areas even have a free notification program," the agency says [3].

Red flags

• Your property tax, utility or mortgage mail suddenly stops or goes to a new name. The FTC notes that stopped utility bills may signal identity theft [3].
• Neighbors report someone moving into a vacant property you own or that belongs to a relative's estate.
• A deed appears in public records that you never signed, often a quitclaim deed with little or no money exchanged.
• Someone claims a notary witnessed your signature at a time and place you can't account for.

What to do

1. Check your deed through your county recorder of deeds, and sign up for a free property-fraud alert if your county offers one [3].
2. Keep an eye on inherited or vacant properties, and record the estate's interest promptly after a death.
3. If a fraudulent deed is filed, contact the recorder's office, local police and a real estate attorney right away.
4. Report identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov for a free recovery plan, and check your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com [3].

Case status (as of Oct. 20, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 20, 2026	Source
James L. Townes Jr., 51, Berkeley, Mo.	Federal, E.D. Mo.	Pleaded guilty to conspiracy Oct. 15, 2026; sentencing set for Jan. 21	[1], [2]
James L. Townes Jr. (separate disability-benefits case)	Federal, E.D. Mo.	Indicted Aug. 6, 2025, on mail fraud, wire fraud and theft of government funds; pleaded not guilty in 2025; current status unconfirmed (status pending)	[2]
Charnay Bartlett, 30	Federal, E.D. Mo.	Pleaded guilty to conspiracy in April 2026; sentencing set for Dec. 2	[1], [2]

Statuses can change. Those not convicted are presumed innocent.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri, "St. Louis County Man Admits Using Fraudulent Deed Filings to Steal At Least 14 Properties," Oct. 16, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/st-louis-county-man-admits-using-fraudulent-deed-filings-steal-least-14-properties
2. U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri, "St. Louis County Man Accused of Conspiring to Steal 16 Homes and a Duplex," Aug. 21, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/st-louis-county-man-accused-conspiring-steal-16-homes-and-duplex
3. Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice, "Home title lock insurance? Not a lock at all," Aug. 26, 2024. https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/08/home-title-lock-insurance-not-lock-all

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