Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – The second Jonesboro City Council meeting of 2026 started the year with metaphorical fireworks as citizens presented allegations against city leadership on who knew what, and when, in regard to City Stars Youth Sports finances.
Matt Modelevsky, who served as president for the Arkansas Revolution Football Club (ARFC), spoke out against city leadership. He specifically called out Mayor Harold Copenhaver on his alleged inaction regarding the possible fraud in the former nonprofit soccer club’s finances.
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ARFC operated under the City Stars nonprofit, which was run by former parks director Danny Kapales. Kapales is under federal investigation.
During the Jan. 20 city council meeting, Modelevsky presented a binder of organized documentation showing a timeline of communication with the mayor and other city officials. The documents reflect a growing disquiet from Modelevsky and Daniel Gary as they brought concerns to city leadership and asked for accountability on these issues. Gary joined the board of directors for ARFC in 2022 and has served as a liaison to city administration.
Modelevsky and Gary provided digital copies of these communications to JRN, including additional information that was not presented at the city council meeting. JRN reviewed the information, which can be found below, along with a timeline for clarity.
Copenhaver Responds
After Tuesday’s meeting, JRN sat down with Copenhaver as well as new Parks Director Jim Stearns to give them the opportunity to respond to Modelevsky’s complaints.
“I think it’s very critical that people know that my goal is to do what’s best for all the children in Jonesboro, and I have to look at a holistic approach for everything,” Copenhaver said. “As an individual, I also address situations. And could I have communicated better? Yes.”
He continued: “But I also felt that [at] Tuesday night’s meeting, there were some accusations made that challenged my integrity. And there’s no reason for that. We don’t need insults. We need to move on in the community and do the right thing for our children, all of our children.”
Copenhaver said there were certain things he could not discuss due to the federal investigation. He explained that, before the youth sports organization’s finances were dissolved by the city, it was an independent nonprofit. When it was independent from the city, so too were its finances, he said.
“City Stars has been a 501(c)(3) that was not under the auspices of the city. It’s a nonprofit. I had no control,” Copenhaver said. “The naming was confusing: City Stars. It should have been named something else.”
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Copenhaver added that the city’s commitment to youth sports was stronger than ever and that under his administration, the city has had clean audits. He said that this was why the FBI agreed the city could take over City Stars’ finances.
“There were levels here that it just wasn’t a simple process for me to go through. And after that, there were some concerns,” said Copenhaver. “And so, with those concerns, we did ask the nonprofit, the 501(c)(3), to go ahead, and they were willing to do an audit. And so, with that audit, it came back clean.”
The audit Copenhaver is referring to was completed by CPA firm Thomas, Speight and Noble after concerns about City Stars’ financial records were raised. Melissa Harrison, audit partner with the firm, reported the audit results at a July 8, 2025, Finance and Administration Council Committee meeting.
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Stearns spoke about how City Stars’ finances would be restructured now that its finances fall under the city. With the new system, he said money could be tracked from the point it is picked up from the Finance Department until it is returned.
A “dual control” system has been implemented, in which there are always two people with the program’s money at all times, he said.
“They balance out at the end of the night, minus their bank. That goes back to a drop box safe in the office, two people sign that back in,” Stearns said. “The next day, two people will take that to Finance, to make the deposits. Finance will document those deposits and track that money. The bank bags will go to the bank to get proper denominations – again, two people sign in and out – and then we’re ready for the next night’s games.”
Copenhaver went on to explain that the city hired an additional employee to oversee the process moving forward.
“We’ve also been in conversation, and we have had an additional employee come back that was a Legislative Audit employee to where he can oversee this process as we continue to move forward,” he said. “But as mayor, my main priority has been and always will be that all children have access to Jonesboro sports leagues.”
Copenhaver added, “Transparency is obviously our goal. We’re more transparent now than we ever have been. You can see in our city website. We have people, they can come up here, they can see everything. It’s structured to where they can access it online if necessary.”
Timeline of Events
In the interest of transparency, the following documents were provided by Modelevsky and Gary for publication. They include copies of text messages and emails with city leadership. Much of the information below was presented at the city council meeting on Jan. 20, and additional information was provided to JRN for clarity.
Feb. 14, 2023: Gary emails Kapales requesting to see the finances of Revolution.
Expand to read email exchange between Gary and Kapales, Modelevsky cc’d
Feb. 21, 2024, to Feb. 22, 2024: Gary reviewed the Jonesboro budget, looking for “field usage” fees. He then emailed Kapales requesting to see the soccer budget. Kapales’ response indicated that City Stars is independent from the City of Jonesboro.
Expand to read email exchange between Gary and Kapales
May 15, 2024, to May 16, 2024: Gary and Modelevsky indicated that, at a board meeting, they asked to be involved in the process for collecting gate fees at Revolution events for fundraising purposes and were denied by Kapales. Gary then followed up with an email to Kapales asking for clarification on the City Stars Board. Kapales responded via a phone call to Gary.
Expand to read email from Gary to Kapales
June 6, 2024, to June 7, 2024: Gary followed up with Kapales, asking for further clarification on the City Stars Board and discrepancies between a named list of board members and an emailed list. The board names provided by Kapales via email were, apart from Jarrod Stroud, employees of the City of Jonesboro in 2024. Stroud previously worked for the Parks Department.
Expand to read email exchange between Gary and Kapales
July 12, 2024, to Jan. 2, 2025: Modelevsky said he met with Copenhaver on July 12 to disclose his and Gary’s concerns regarding Kapales and City Stars. Text messages confirm Modelevsky followed up with Copenhaver and requested action on these concerns, including, at one point, asking for a separate bank account for Revolution to track financials with more transparency.
Within this same time frame, Gary reached out to Copenhaver, asking for solutions to his concerns with Kapales. He explained they could no longer operate with Kapales’ oversight and expressed a concern that their field access was affected by his and Modelevsky coming forward.
Expand to read text exchange between Modelevsky and Copenahver
Expand to read text exchange between Gary and Copenhaver
Jan. 8, 2025, to Feb. 21, 2025: A meeting was set up for Jan. 8 between Modelevsky, Gary, Copenhaver, Matt Daniel, Brian Richardson, and Tony Thomas to discuss modeling the Jonesboro program after Germantown Legends.
Daniel was the executive director for ARFC at that time. Thomas is the current chief operating officer for the City of Jonesboro, and Richardson serves as chief administrative officer.
Modelevsky and Gary indicated that the city expressed interest in the solution presented and offered to help with finances pending a proposal and follow-up meeting. The follow-up meeting occurred on Feb. 6. A proposal, including an economic impact statement, was delivered at that time, tentatively asking for $500,000 from the city.
On Feb. 13 and 17, Modelevsky reached out to the mayor, asking for an update. Modelevsky indicated there was no response either time.
On Feb. 18, Gary texted the mayor for an update and did not receive a response. Modelevsky reached out to Copenhaver, who responded, and they met for coffee on Feb. 21.
Expand to read text exchange between Modelevsky and Copenhaver
Expand to read text exchange between Modelevsky and Copenhaver regarding Feb. 21 coffee
Expand to read Feb. 18 text from Gary to Copenhaver
April 19, 2025: Gary texted the mayor, requesting an update and expressing frustration about the lack of communication or progress. Modelevsky and Gary indicated that Copenhaver accidentally texted that he “is about to cancel Revolution soccer.” In the text exchange, the mayor responded, “Just kidding of course.”
Expand to read the April 19 text exchange between Gary and Copenhaver
April 22, 2025, to April 24, 2025: Modelevsky emailed the Germantown provider agreement to City Attorney Carol Duncan.
On April 23, Modelevsky texted Copenhaver, letting the mayor know of the ARFC Board’s intention to resign en masse. The mayor reiterated that his earlier comment regarding canceling Revolution was a misstatement.
Duncan responded to Modelevsky and copied Richardson and Copenhaver on April 23. On April 24, Daniel resigned.
Expand to read the April 23 to April 24 text exchange between Modelevsky and Copenhaver
Expand to read the April 22 to April 24 text exchange between Gary and Copenhaver
Expand to read the April 22 email exchange with Duncan
Expand to read Matt Daniel’s Resignation
April 25, 2025, to April 26, 2025: Modelevsky responded to Duncan’s email announcing his resignation. According to Modelevsky and Gary, there was a call between Kapales, Stroud, Shrader, Gary, and Phil Woods on April 25. Woods is currently the assistant coach for Arkansas State Athletics’ women’s soccer team.
Modelevsky and Gary also indicated that there was no mention of ongoing issues on the call, and only tryouts were asked about. They also said this was the first time City Stars board members had been on a call with an ARFC board member.
On April 26, the ARFC Board unanimously voted to resign and sent out the announcement.
Expand to read Modelevsky’s resignation
Expand to read Revolution Board Resignation
April 27, 2025: Gary and Copenhaver met to make a deal. According to a text exchange, an agreement was made that the city would hire Woods as an employee and that he would not be required to work under Kapales.
Texts indicate that it was also agreed that Revolution would be independent, and the Jonesboro Advertising and Promotion (A&P) Commission would work to secure funding for two years to cover operational costs totaling $50,000. ARFC would also host four tournaments a year beginning in 2026 in exchange. Gary indicated that a “handshake seals the deal.”
Expand to read the text exchange between Gary and Copenhaver
April 28, 2025, to April 29, 2025: Duncan responded to Modelevsky’s email, thanking him for providing background and indicating there was no current agreement between the City of Jonesboro and City Stars.
Modelevsky responded to Duncan, indicating that ARFC’s board had been lied to about financial information by Kapales and that Copenhaver had not taken action in the months of communication.
During this same Monday, Tuesday time frame, Gary texted Copenhaver asking for an update. He indicates the Mayor had agreed to a city role for Woods, funding from A&P, and an apology to Modelevsky. That text thread concludes with Gary terminating his discussions with the mayor because, as Gary said to Copenhaver, “To my knowledge, you are 0/3 on those.”
Expand to read the email exchange between Modelevsky and Duncan
Expand to read the text exchange between Gary and Copenhaver
Oct. 31, 2025: Emma Cottingham, a digital media specialist with the City of Jonesboro, submitted a nomination for Kapales for the 2025 Arkansas Delta Awards Tourism Person of the Year.
Expand to read the nomination for Kapales for the Arkansas Delta Awards
Nov. 19, 2025: Jerry Morgan, chair of the A&P Commission, emailed Copenhaver expressing concerns and asking for additional review of the City Stars’ financials. In the email, Morgan estimated over $500,000 in revenue from funds collected, most of which was in cash.
He said, “All the funds collected at our city fields and facilities are controlled by City Stars Booster Club (not the city of Jonesboro’s finance department). Under this arrangement, very few controls are in place for full reconciliation and accountability of funds being collected.”
In the email, Morgan recommended several solutions to the problems facing City Stars. He concluded, “I understand that City Stars is a stand-alone entity; but with its intertwined relationship with the City of Jonesboro, an outside review is warranted. I would be glad to visit with the legislative audit firm if needed to address my concerns and financial “red flags”. I do not feel comfortable approving additional funds to Jonesboro City Stars in the upcoming allocations meeting unless these items are addressed.”
Copenhaver responded, indicating a review of all youth sports programming was underway. He added, “On the audit question, Thomas, Speight, and Noble is a highly respected firm and the audit was completed by one of their principals. I am pleased with [the] complete audit that was presented and I am sure you are aware they do A&P’s audit as well.”
Expand to read email exchange between Morgan and Copenhaver
Dec. 2, 2025: Richardson sent a news release indicating that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Kapales, and he had been placed on administrative leave.
Expand to read the press release regarding Kapales’ investigation
Dec. 5, 2025: Copenhaver announced, at a special meeting of the Jonesboro City Council Finance and Administrative Committee, that the city is “prepared to serve as trustee for City Stars’ financial activities.”
Dec. 10, 2025: Modelevsky and Morgan emailed city council members asking for an independent review of sports programming and sports tourism, as well as a sports advisory committee.
Expand to read Modelevsky and Morgan’s email to Jonesboro City Council
Jan. 2, 2026: Kapales resigned as director of the Jonesboro Parks and Recreation department.
Jan. 20, 2026: Premiere Training Academy released a public statement to provide clarity regarding its decision to conclude its partnership with Revolution.