It is difficult to believe statements of no wrongdoing by the former varsity football coach for Jones County High School, who recently pled guilty to a felony charge. That is due largely to the fact that his actions are the reason three former employees of the Jones County School System are no longer there.
In addition to Michael Chastain, that includes the former athletic director Chad Alligood and former Superintendent Charles Lundy. Chastain and Alligood both resigned, and Lundy’s contract was not renewed by the Board of Education.
Michael Cumbee Chastain, 49, was placed under arrested Aug. 8, following the entry of his guilty plea for the charge of evasion of income tax, penalty, interest or other amount in excess of $3,000.
He was subsequently released from custody because of plea negotiations with the state and the repayment of $24,500 in funds he had deposited into his account from the Jones County Touchdown Club. Chastain was represented in Jones County Superior Court by attorney Mitchell Warnock, who made several attempts to make the fact that funds donated by the businesses and people of Jones County to support members of the Greyhound Football team were taken by his client for his own personal use was acceptable behavior.
Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney Wright Barksdale represented the state in the Aug. 8 proceeding in Jones County Superior Court. Chief Judge Alison Burleson presided over the court.
Barksdale said the felony charge against Chastain was that he failed to report the more than $8,000 he received from the Touchdown Club in 2023 on his tax return.
The prosecutor said the Gray Police Department received information about suspicious activity concerning Chastain and the handling of the bank account in January. He said that started an investigation that spanned several months.
Barksdale said it came to light when the treasurer of the account was notified by the bank it was overdrawn and she was not aware of any activity in the account. He said a school policy was implemented in 2023 that coaches were not allowed to be on any of booster club accounts.
The investigation found a $700 per month direct deposit from the touchdown club account to Chastain’s personal checking account. The deposit began in March of 2022.
The school policy required all coaches to submit booster club statements to Alligood — athletic director at the time — but it appears that did not happen with the touchdown club account. Barksdale said the total of those deposits was $24,500, and the treasurer denied any knowledge that was happening.
“The fundraising brochure for the booster club makes no mention of the coach keeping 25 percent of the donations,” the prosecutor said.
A copy of one of the brochures was placed into evidence.
“No where does it say the fundraisers are to benefit the coach,” he reiterated.
Barksdale said his recommendation for sentencing was taking into account what is best for the school system and community. He recommended five years probation and $24,500 in restitution.
The prosecutor said Chastain is no longer a resident of Jones County and no longer an educator. The former coach has no criminal history. He would be entering the plea under the First Offender Act, and the case would terminate upon receipt of the restitution.
“He is accepting responsibility pre-indictment,” the DA said.
Barksdale said he hoped the court would recognize all the hard work that went into the investigation of the case.
Warnock asked the judge to allow the guilty plea to be entered under Alford. That means the defendant would not be admitting guilt but felt it was in his best interest to plead guilty.
The attorney said the $700 was set up to cover the coach’s truck payment, which he said was a common practice. The attorney claimed the athletic director was aware of the payment, but no evidence was presented to prove that was true.
“He did not act with criminal intent,” Warnock concluded.
The judge took a few minutes to consider the request. She noted that Chastain was already receiving the benefit of pleading under the First Offender Act.
Warnock claimed his client could have filed an amended tax return.
Burleson said an Alford plea was not usually in the mix but, given the facts, she understood the request. She said she would allow it but then made sure the defendant understood it was still a guilty plea.
The judge said the maximum sentence for the charge was five years in confinement.
Warnock handed Barksdale his client’s check for $24,500. The prosecutor then asked for it to be put on the record that he handed the check to the president of the touchdown club. Chastain was allowed to drive himself to the Jones County Sheriff’s Office for booking.
Investigation
Reports written by Gray Police Department Maj. Chris Williams stated the investigation began Feb.
6 with an interview with Lundy in reference to the possible misappropriation of funds related to the touchdown club.
Williams subsequently received a bag with Chastain’s touchdown account items that included $216 in currency, two $50 gift cards, checks and a debit card. The major received the bag March 20, indirectly from Lundy.
Williams interviewed coaches from all the booster clubs at the school. All the coaches from the other clubs came off the accounts when instructed in 2023, and no others received money. A couple said they had received gift cards at the end of the year.
He interviewed the treasurer of the touchdown club, who had served in the volunteer position since 2018. She said the regular meetings of the club stopped due to COVID. It appears there were two volunteers who assisted with fundraising from 20222025. Chastain took over handling the account when he became coach in 2019.
That was the same time that the treasurer stopped receiving statements, and the account was handled totally online. The treasurer said she was instructed to write checks by Chastain who received bonuses in addition to $700 deposits into his checking account. She lost online access in 2021.
At the end of each year, numerous checks were written to football coaches amounting to several thousand dollars at Chastain’s direction. At the end of 2024, those payments included a check to the athletic director, who was Alligood at the time, and JCHS principal Dennis Woolfolk. According to the bank statement, both checks were cashed.
The other volunteers interviewed by Williams served as president of the club. The knowledge of the two volunteers about the $700 monthly deposit differed somewhat, but neither seemed be aware it was for a truck payment or that it happened monthly.
The president said she remembered a conversation where Chastain said he was not being paid enough and needed more money. She said she thought he was referring to gas money.
The head coach’s salary, including supplements, was over $120,000.
Neither the president nor treasurer were seeing bank statements.
Chastain was supposed to come off the account in 2023, but that did not happen until February of 2024. The president of the club was added to the account at that time.
The monthly deposits started in March of 2022, set up by Chastain, and amounted to $7,000 in 2022, $8,400 in 2023 and 2024 and $700 in 2025. In addition to the deposits and bonuses to himself, the account shows he spent more than $1,000 for gas.
The touchdown debit card in his possession also appears to have been used for individual meals.
The account showed an opening balance of $92,634 in January of 2022 but decreased to $10,256 at the start of the next month. Hefty deposits were made after fundraising each August, but the funds were quickly used. In April of 2023, the ending bank balance was $142.27.
GPD interview
An interview with GPD Chief Adam Lowe, Williams and Maj. Mark Robinson Aug. 11 was basically a review of the case. After the investigation, all the information was given to Barksdale, who had the decision of not only of charging Chastain but what that charge would be.
Tax evasion was one option and theft another.
Williams said Chastain wrote 35 checks after he was no longer on the checking account. That was not caught at the time because no one was looking at the account. He said the coach regularly wrote himself bonus checks.
Lowe said after he officially came off the account in 2024, the coach still had online access.
“There was no oversight at all,” he said.
The chief said the bylaws of the touchdown club state the checks are supposed to be approved by a vote of the board. No vote was ever taken to approve the “truck payment.”
“Chastain was the only one with online access. No one else could see the account until he was taken off,” Lowe said. “He had checks, a debit card, gift cards and cash in his possession,” he said.
The chief said the athletic director was supposed to have oversight, according to the Jones County School System organizational chart. Alligood answered to Lundy.
“We looked at the club’s donors as victims, as well as the athletes,” he said. “I am happy we got back that much of what he took. I didn’t talk to any of the donors who were happy with giving those supplements.”
The chief also referred to the fundraising brochures that spell out what the funds are supposed to be used for.
“There is nothing about giving coach supplements.”
New coach, new day
Lowe was quick to add that all that is in the past. A new Jones County Touchdown Club bank account was opened April 15. The club has new officers, just as the Greyhounds have a new coach, Justin Montgomery, who was officially hired with a unanimous vote by the Board of Education Feb. 11.
Brian Wall is the president of the touchdown club, and Dr. Kenneth Kay was named treasurer.
Montgomery is originally from McIntyre and was the former defensive coordinator at Carrolton High School.
Montgomery said he moved his family to Gray because this is where they would like their kids to grow up. He also had a message to the Gray and Jones County community that he has repeated at events more than once.
“Tough times don’t last; tough people do,” he said.
