MORGANTON, N.C. — Grand Jury incitements have been handed down against the organizer of a “Dancing with the Stars” themed event in Burke County, according to a news release from Morganton Public Safety officials.
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The organizer is accused of embezzling money from the show that was supposed to raise money for local charities, investigators said.
People from across the area have been going to the contest, which has been held at the CoMMA Performing Arts Center in Morganton, for years.
Morganton Mayor Ronnie Thompson was one of the participants of “Dancing with the Local Stars” in Morganton years ago. He admitted he wasn’t the best dancer but signed up to help raise money for scholarships at Western Piedmont Community College.
“The event, especially with me in the event, everybody loved to see the mayor mess up,” Thompson told Channel 9’s Dave Faherty. “And it’s a great community effort. The charities loved the money.”
Now a grand jury in Burke County has indicted the organizer, Travis Stancil, on four counts of embezzlement and two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.
Stancil hired professional dancers to train local participants who were responsible for selling sponsorships and tickets, investigators said.
Stancil collected more than $48,000 for the 2024 event but didn’t fulfill his contract with the professional dancers, police said. Stancil stopped communicating with the local stars when they tried to get their money back.
“We made multiple attempts to contact Mr. Stancil and were unable to contact him,” said Capt. Nick Edwards, Morganton Public Safety. “The investigation indicated that the proceeds from the event went to Mr. Stancil’s personal accounts.”
“If you’re going to promise people, you’re going to get contributions and you promise people you’re going to have this event, you need to man up, and make sure it happens,” the mayor said.
Stancil was most recently living in Florida, police said. Faherty spoke with Stancil’s attorney who said he plans on turning himself in Wednesday or Thursday.
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