The fall of a fundraiser: How a local dance show led to felony charges, lawsuits and arrest

What started as a community fundraiser modeled after “Dancing with the Stars” has spun into one of Burke County’s most talked-about recent court cases replete with defamation lawsuits, a Grand Jury felony indictment, an order for arrest, and questions about who really benefited from the money raised in the name of charity.

At the center of it all is former Morganton resident Stanley Travis Stancil, a 29-year-old Florida-based producer who brought his company, Stance Productions, to Western North Carolina to put on “Dancing with the Burke Stars” and “Dancing with the Catawba Valley Stars.”

A Burke County grand jury recently indicted Stancil on six felony counts, two for obtaining property by false pretense and four for embezzlement by an agent or fiduciary, tied to fundraising events promoted as charity benefits in Burke and Catawba counties. Under state law, Class H felonies carry sentences ranging from four to 25 months per count, depending on prior record.

Eight days after the grand jury’s decision, the Burke County court issued a Notice of Indictment and an Order for Arrest, authorizing law enforcement to detain Stancil and bring him before a judge.

On Wednesday, Oct. 29, Stancil returned to Burke County, where the Burke County Sheriff’s Office served his arrest warrant. Stancil posted his $10,000 secured bond minutes later. No attorney is listed as representing him in connection with the indictment.

With no conditions on the release order aside from fingerprint collection, Stancil is free to return home until his Jan. 5 court date.

The dance productions promised to raise money for local causes while giving residents a chance to dance on stage with professionals. But long before the curtain rose, the music stopped.

Throughout winter and spring of 2024, the controversy was the subject of several news outlets, including The Paper. Throughout the year, speculation swirled locally about ongoing investigations into allegations that Stancil had embezzled proceeds and defrauded residents.

Legal and law enforcement officials were tight-lipped about developments because of the active investigation.

In February 2025, Stancil filed a 48-page lawsuit in Burke County Superior Court against Debra Benfield; Kristie Anderson; FC Presents, LLC; Carlos Foster; choreographer Pierre Clark; The Paper; and The Paper’s parent company, Morganton Media Group. It sought more than $25,000 in damages.

The lawsuit alleged that the individuals conspired to ruin his reputation, took funds that belonged to his company, and used his show format to create a competing event, “Dancing with the Local Stars.”

The complaint said The Paper defamed Stancil’s character, accused him of fraud and embezzlement, and claimed the coverage drove sponsors and vendors away and destroyed his business.

Stancil’s attorney, Kyle Putnam of Charlotte-based Hull & Chandler, demanded a retraction from The Paper to stories written in the Winter and Spring of 2024 about the Dancing With the Stars controversy.

Accounts in those stories, the lawsuit claimed, were “false, malicious, and defamatory,” arguing that The Paper’s reporting “wrongly implied that Stancil and his company engaged in criminal or unethical behavior.”

The Paper’s attorney, Raleigh-based Stevens Martin Vaughn & Tadych, PLLC, responded in March with a 58-page, 302-paragraph filing that denied all wrongdoing. “We categorically deny your claims … and are prepared to vigorously defend The Paper against any litigation should your clients choose to proceed,” the attorney wrote.

The newspaper’s reporting was accurate, based on verified information, and protected under the First Amendment and the fair-report privilege, which covers accurate reports on public records, according to the response.

Between July 30 and Oct. 27, the lawsuit was dismissed or settled except for the claims against Foster, who in April 2024 revived the event concept, renamed “Dancing With the Local Stars.”

The seven-point Grand Jury indictment issued in October stated that Stancil did “knowingly misapply and convey to his own use, and with the intent to embezzle and fraudulently and knowingly misapply and convert to his own use” monies provided by Benfield, Anderson, and Brian Stamey for the production of Dancing With the Burke Stars. Put simply, the indictment names the three as victims of embezzlement.

“... The Majority of the proceeds from the show went directly to Travis Stancil,” according to the indictment.

Additional funds were reportedly taken from sponsors and participants who believed they were contributing to charity, according to the indictment.

Court filings describe Stancil as an “agent and fiduciary” of the productions who “knowingly and fraudulently converted funds to his own use.”

The indictment also accuses him of falsely claiming that a nonprofit, Your Big Break, Inc., produced Dancing with the Catawba Valley Stars to qualify for a discounted rental rate at the J.E. Broyhill Civic Center in Lenoir. Prosecutors allege that most of the proceeds went instead to Stancil’s for-profit company, Stance Productions, LLC.

When reached for comment, defendants in the lawsuit declined to elaborate because it remains an active legal proceeding. Morganton Department of Public Safety (MDPS) Capt. Whitney Edwards asked that any additional victims bring information to the MDPS and file a report.

Putnam, the lawyer who represented Stancil and his company in the civil case indicated that he and his firm did not represent him in connection with the indictment after The Paper made contact seeking comment about it.

The events leading up to Stancil’s indictment

After several years of sold-out performances in Morganton’s CoMMA auditorium, rehearsals in early 2024 turned tense. In late January 2024, professional dancers hired by Stancil arrived at the Crowne Plaza in Hickory. Stancil had agreed to cover their lodging, meals, and pay.

Within two days, the dancers collectively waltzed out, citing a toxic work environment, poor accommodations, a lack of food, and breach of contract, according to the MDPS.

The show was postponed and eventually was canceled, refunds were demanded but were not forthcoming, rumors began to swirl, the fundraiser began to fall apart.

The effort collapsed altogether in part because a Feb. 27, 2024, report filed with Morganton’s Public Safety which stated that investigations “revealed that Stancil had collected over $48,000 in connection with the event. Financial records indicated that he personally profited from the proceeds and made no attempt to reimburse the participants, sponsors, or ticket buyers.”

“Dancing with the Local Stars” premiered on Saturday, June 29, 2024, at CoMMA to a disappointing turnout. A second production was staged in February. Foster said that he will not repeat the production.