A Council Bluffs man has been sentenced to five to nine years in the Nebraska prison system after being found guilty of stealing historic plaques from Omaha’s Central High School and the First National Bank of Omaha.
Thirty-seven-year-old Matthew Fadley pleaded no contest to two counts of theft of property valued at over $5,000 in Douglas County District Court. He received two sentences of five to nine years each, which will be served at the same time. Prosecutors dropped three additional felony theft charges related to property valued between $1,500 and $4,999. Fadley was credited with 340 days already served in jail.
Fadley had failed to appear for his original sentencing in January and was later arrested and booked into the Douglas County Jail on June 25. He received an additional 30-day sentence for failure to appear.
Security footage showed that plaques were stolen from Central High School at least eight times over a six-month period beginning August 10, 2023. Stolen items included a plaque marking the site as Nebraska’s territorial capitol and another commemorating the signing of the state’s first constitution in 1866.
After Omaha Crime Stoppers released footage of the suspects, Omaha police issued warrants for both Fadley and 42-year-old Nicole Maloney, who was also arrested in connection with the thefts. Maloney has pleaded no contest to two counts of felony theft and will be sentenced in August.
Court records show that Fadley and Maloney sold metal to a recycling company in Omaha. Fadley has a history of similar crimes; in November 2023, he was sentenced to probation in Pottawattamie County for stealing brass grates from a fountain in Council Bluffs’ Bayliss Park. He was later found in violation of probation for failing to seek employment, missing meetings with his probation officer, and testing positive for methamphetamine and amphetamines on multiple occasions.
Comments