Former state fair finance director to be sentenced Friday

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- The one-time money man for the Nebraska State Fair is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.

The fair’s former finance director, 30-year-old Patrick Kopke, who pleaded no contest and was found guilty of three counts of theft, faces a maximum of 60 years in prison.

In 2019, Kopke resigned from the fair, announcing that it would go bankrupt in a year.

It didn't, but a 2020 state audit found two state fair checks totaling nearly $150,000 paid to a private business owned by Kopke. That money was used to buy a pick-up truck, an ATV and a trailer.