ST. LOUIS – A man already facing local charges for trying to steal people’s homes out from under them has now drawn the ire of federal prosecutors.

James. L. Townes Jr., 50, was charged in St. Louis County Circuit Court back in April with four counts of stealing – $25,000 or more, four counts of possession of a forging instrument, and four counts of acting as or impersonating a notary.

County prosecutors allege Townes filed multiple bogus quitclaim deeds at the Recorder of Deeds’ Office on four different homes.

However, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri now claim Townes conspired with another person to steal 16 homes and a duplex with fake deeds.

A grand jury indicted Townes on June 25 with one count of mail fraud, one count of access device fraud, one count of unlawful production of an authentication feature, four counts of identity theft, and four counts of aggravated identity theft.

A superseding indictment issued on Aug. 6 charged Townes with a total of 25 counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud, access device fraud, fraudulently effecting transactions, unlawful production of an authentication feature, identity theft, and aggravated identity theft.

In addition, Townes was indicted in a separate federal case on Aug. 6 with one count of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and four counts of theft of government funds. Prosecutors allege Townes falsely claimed to be a disabled person from February 2017 through Aug. 6, 2025, and did not have resources because he could not walk more than five or 10 steps or do any physical activity. In truth, prosecutors said Townes ran Tied Tight Entertainment LLC during this time and also acted as the registered agent of 13 additional LLCs.

Federal prosecutors said Townes and Charnay Bartlett, 29, used fraudulent quitclaim deeds to transfer ownership of properties under their names between September 2018 and April 2025.

Missouri law requires documents like a quitclaim deed to be notarized. In Townes’ case, authorities said he would pose as a notary and get the deeds notarized, only to return to the Record of Deeds’ Office days or weeks later to file the documentation, which included forged signatures of previous property owners. The homes would then be transferred to Townes’ company, Tied Tight Entertainment.

Bartlett is charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of fraudulently effecting transactions, four counts of unlawful production of an authentication feature, and four counts of identity theft.