Former head of Nebraska Liquor Commission changes plea in fraud, extortion case

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - The state’s former executive director of the Liquor Commission has struck a plea deal on federal charges of extortion and fraud.

Hobert Rupe, who is also an owner of two Lincoln strip clubs, was indicted last September alongside co-owner Brent Zywiec. Rupe served as executive director of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission from 2003 until he resigned in June 2025.

According to the indictment, Rupe conspired with Zywiec to benefit his strip clubs in Lincoln — The Office and The Night Before Lounge — in exchange for access to dancers, free drinks, and sexual favors. Rupe would then use his influence in the commission to protect Zywiec’s liquor licenses and even point authorities in the direction of his competitors in Omaha, prosecutors allege. That influence, court records show, allowed Zywiec to commit violations against his liquor licensing.

Both Rupe and Zywiec pleaded not guilty to all charges. Two months later, Dan Thomas and Shane Zywiec were added as defendants in the case.

Rupe was initially charged with one count of extortion, two counts of wire fraud, three counts of services fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit services fraud. Zywiec was charged with three counts of services fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit services fraud. If convicted on all counts, both men were facing prison sentences of up to 20 years.

As the result of a plea deal, Rupe pled guilty Wednesday in Lancaster County in front of Magistrate Judge Jacqueline M. DeLuca to extortion and one count of conspiracy to commit services fraud. The magistrate judge said in court on Wednesday that she will recommend Judge Susan Bazis accepts the plea agreement at or before sentencing, scheduled for Feb. 4.

Double homicide reveals scheme

More details about the case came to light during Wednesday’s hearing.

Several co-defendants in the case owned several bars including a bar and strip club in Lincoln where a double-homicide happened in May 2024. While investigating the fatal shootings outside The Office Gentleman’s Club, authorities found footage of Rupe receiving a bundle of cash from a co-owner under the table in the business office. A few minutes later, he was seen on video in a private room receiving a dance that he paid for from the cash he had just received.

The investigation found numerous occasions where some of the co-defendants provided Rupe with cash and Rupe then receiving private dances, VIP dances, a waiver of a cover charge, and alcoholic beverages at the lounge either for free or by using the cash he received at the office. Investigators then found that the cash was expensed by the business to influence Rupe over time, with co-defendants providing information about the dancers to Rupe, which he would then look up in criminal justice or law enforcement databases he had access to in order to gain inside knowledge about the individuals.

Rupe also would look up information in the databases to influence justice system activities in order to protect The Office from law enforcement while targeting bar competitors by referring allegations of criminal activity happening at those locations to the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office. As a result, the AG’s office along with Nebraska State Patrol executed undercover investigations in those clubs.

Investigators also found that Rupe witnessed, knew of, and participated in some illegal activities at the club that went un-reported to law enforcement.

In June 2025, a Omaha lounge owner told law enforcement that in 2021, he made a $40,000 payment to maintain his liquor license at Throwback Lounge. He said the man was talking about his struggles over a poker game and that one of the co-defendants indicated he could help since he had a contact at the liquor control commission. The man was told he would receive an anonymous call before his first hearing before the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission and was coached on how to conduct himself during the hearing in order to keep his liquor license. He said he was then told to bring the $40,000 in cash to a gas station along Interstate 80 between Omaha and Lincoln.

Authorities said some of that money was paid to Rupe and a co-defendant, and that after that payment, the liquor control commissioner stopped giving the man any trouble — until 2023.

After the Omaha City Council turned down his request for a liquor license, he appealed it to the state commission and again went to Rupe and the co-defendant. He said they he asked for another $40,000, but he was only able to pay $25,000. At the subsequent hearing, the liquor board modified his closing time from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. Eventually, the bar closed.

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Digital Director Gina Dvorak contributed to this report.