Springfield woman pleads guilty to mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering associated with submitting false documents to the Missouri Department of Revenue

Date: Jan. 23, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Springfield, MO – A Springfield, MO, woman pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday for her role in a mail fraud scheme in which false documents were submitted to the Missouri Department of Revenue to obtain mechanics liens and titles for vehicles that had previously been reported stolen.

Christie Engle pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Willie J. Epps, Jr., to one count of mail fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of money laundering.

According to the plea agreement, Engle worked as an employee for Dennis Cleveland, the owner of Affordable Towing. Cleveland directed his employees, one of which was Engle, to submit fraudulent documents to the Missouri Department of Revenue. The purpose of the documents was to obtain substitute or replacement mechanics liens and vehicle titles that would allow Cleveland, through Affordable Towing, to sell the vehicles. In each instance, the documents submitted by Engle, at the direction of Cleveland, claimed to have received permission from the vehicle’s owner. Upon reviewing the documents, it was discovered that none of the listed vehicle owners gave Engle, Cleveland, or Affordable Towing permission to seize or sell their vehicle. Further, in all these documents, a signature in the name of the vehicle’s owner was provided and was confirmed to be a forgery. In those instances that Engle was successful in obtaining a replacement lien or title at Cleveland’s direction, from the Missouri Department of Revenue, Cleveland sold the vehicles at his used car dealership. In those instances that Engle was unsuccessful in obtaining a replacement title or mechanics lien at Cleveland’s direction, the vehicle was sold to a local scrapyard. Under either circumstance, Engle carried out criminal acts at Cleveland’s direction, who then took all the proceeds from the vehicle’s sale or scrapping of these vehicles for himself. Each of the vehicles involved in this scheme were confirmed to have been reported stolen and Engle, Cleveland or Affordable Towing did not have permission to possess, sell, or scrap any of these vehicles.

In December 2025, Cleveland also pleaded guilty to the same charges and is awaiting sentencing.

Under federal statutes, Engle is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole for the offense of mail fraud. Further, Engle is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole for the offense of money laundering. Finally, Engle is subject to a sentence of 2 years, to run consecutively to the mail fraud and money laundering, for the offense of aggravated identity theft. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney It was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Missouri Department of Revenue, Compliance and Investigation Bureau, the United States Post Inspection Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.