ARTS CENTER DIRECTOR CHANGES PLEA

Vicki Dwyer Middlemas, the former director of Panama City’s Visual Arts Center, has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges. The 48-year-old Middlemas changed her plea from not guilty to guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of federal tax fraud. She had faced 24 federal criminal charges for allegedly using the Arts Center funds 20 times for personal items and filing fraudulent tax returns over four years to continue receiving funding from Panama City for the agency years after it had lost its non-profit designation. Her sentencing is set for October 25^th in Panama City’s federal courthouse.