On Wednesday, former Fresno Arts Council operations manager Suliana Caldwell agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud, admitting to stealing $1.8 million from the organization.

Part of the agreement includes a promise to pay restitution to the Arts Council. Maximum sentence for the charge is 20 years and a $250,000.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said given the impact the theft has had on the community, he wants a “stiff sentence” for Caldwell.

“With the heartache that she caused to the arts community in Fresno, with the fact she’s been doing this for nearly four years, I hope that she would get a stiff sentence, and we would like to see restitution,” Dyer said Friday. “I don’t know if she has the ability to return those funds, but what I can say is what she did was violate the trust of an entire community.”

And, with the city now administering Measure P funds, Dyer said the city will soon have a plan for the next round of arts grants and how to pay for lost taxpayer money.

Money Went to Gambling, Vacations

Caldwell first began stealing from the arts council in June 2022, transferring money from the nonprofit’s bank account to hers through a PayPal account, the federal plea agreement stated. This was a year before the Arts Council received any Measure P tax money.

Transfers for her own bank accounts increased in 2023 after the arts council received $9.4 million in tax money. From the first illegal transfer in 2022 to the last in February, Caldwell made about 300 wire transfers — one on July 9, 2024, totaled $58,750.

The agreement says she used the money to gamble at local casinos, to pay for vacations, and “for other improper expenses for herself.”

To disguise her activity, the plea agreement says Caldwell falsified bank records to hide the missing funds from the executive director and board members.

Measure P Arts Grant Money to Be Backfilled Before June: Dyer

News first broke about the embezzlement in February, and at that time, local artists — the intended recipients of the stolen money — scrambled to get the grant money to support their projects.

Many reported delays in getting funds and Dyer estimates about a $1.5 million shortfall. With the city overseeing Measure P money, Dyer said he will propose using general fund money to backfill grant money in the upcoming budget, but money will be available before approval of the budget in June.

“We’re having to take funds from a certain category or project, utilize those to pay back the grant recipients, or to make them whole, and then we will be replenishing the project that we took money from,” Dyer said. “That’s a process we have already identified and it will provide us with about $1.5 million.”

The city will soon open up the third round of Measure P arts grant money. In years past, artists have submitted project proposals and the Arts Council would approve or deny them based on several different artistic and community merits.

Given the allegations of favoritism about the Arts Council approval process, Dyer said the next body would be from outside the Fresno arts community.

“We heard loud and clear, a number of people came to the city council and claim that there was a favoritism in terms of the distribution of funds,” Dyer said. “We want to do everything we can do to avoid that.”