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The owner of a former used car dealership in Albert Lea is facing 68 misdemeanor charges tied to allegations he did not mail or deliver car titles within required guidelines and for a period of time operated his dealership without a license.

Timothy Brian Mann, 47, faces 21 counts of motor vehicle title-fail to mail/deliver certificate of title within time frame specified, 21 counts of failure to deliver certificate to transferee within 10 business days and 26 counts of selling used vehicles without a used motor vehicle dealer’s license through his company, Mann Motors. 

The criminal complaint states a sergeant with the Minnesota State Patrol received information on Feb. 4 that Mann had been selling vehicles without a valid used motor vehicle dealer license. 

Court documents state Mann’s used dealer license was revoked on Oct. 7, 2021, and Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services notified Mann about the revocation by certified mail. Mann reportedly signed acknowledging receipt of the mail Oct. 12, 2021. 

Despite the license revocation, Mann reportedly continued selling used vehicles, collecting registration fees and sales tax from buyers, prosecutors allege. 

The complaint states that prior to his license revocation, Mann failed to transfer the title of four vehicles within 10 business days as required. One of the buyers purchased a vehicle on March 24, 2021, and the title transfer wasn’t initiated until Oct. 13. 

The complaint listed 25 vehicles Mann sold after his license was revoked, several of which also did not have the titles transferred in the required timeframe. The latest car was sold in January 2022. 

The charges come after Mann in July 2021 pleaded guilty to one count of felony tax evasion after a Minnesota State Patrol trooper received a complaint from the Driver and Vehicle Services office in Albert Lea that he had sold a car and then filed an application to register the car with an inaccurate sale price and an understated sales tax.

In a search warrant on Mann Motors in Albert Lea in that case, the trooper reportedly found records during the search that revealed the sale of approximately 156 vehicles with understated sales tax collected. The total underreporting of sales tax collected by the dealership was about $42,700, court documents state.  

Mann appeared on the new charges on Wednesday and is slated to appear for a plea hearing Dec. 5.