A woman from Chicago gets sentenced to nine years in prison after it was found that she stole 11,000 cases of chicken wings with a street value of $1.5 million - and gambled it all away.

In a bizarre case of fraud and gambling, an Illinois judge has sentenced an ex food service director who worked for the South Chicago school district to nine years in prison for stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings. Vera Liddell, 68, pleaded guilty to felony theft charges after being caught in a scheme that lasted nearly two years, during which she placed unauthorized orders for 11,000 cases of chicken wings using school district funds.

A pandemic-era scheme

Liddell's fraudulent activities began in July of 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and at a time when students were attending classes remotely. Despite the absence of students in school buildings, the district still provided meals meant for underprivileged students, and their families could pick the meals up. Liddell saw an opportunity to exploit this situation, and she began a spree of unauthorized food orders.

According to documents presented in court, Liddell ordered from Gordon Food Service, the school district's supplier, under the pretense that the chicken wings were for student meals. The supplier, believing these orders were legitimate, billed the school district, which then paid the invoices. However, these chicken wings never made it to the students' plates.

Discovery and investigation

The scheme began to unravel in early 2022 when an audit revealed that the school district's food service department had exceeded its annual budget by $300,000 - an alarming figure considering it was only the beginning of the year. This prompted the business manager to investigate, leading to the discovery of multiple invoices which had Liddell's signature - for large orders of chicken wings.

A peculiar detail also emerged during the investigation: chicken wings are not typically served in schools because they have small bones, which present a choking hazard to young students. This raised further suspicions, prompting investigators to analyze security footage. The video evidence revealed that Liddell used the school district's vans to collect the chicken wings from the supplier. However, the trail went cold as to where the wings ended up, with Liddell reselling them to unspecified parties and gambling away the proceeds.

Judicial response and sentencing

Judge Michele Pitman of the Sixth Municipal District of Cook County presided over the case and delivered a stern sentence. Liddell's actions were deemed a significant breach of trust, especially during a time when the school district was striving to support underprivileged students amid the challenges of the pandemic.

Liddell's attorney, Patrick O'Byrne, characterized his client as a "churchgoing woman with no previous criminal record" and described her actions as being driven by a gambling addiction. "She's just a little sweetheart that's got a gambling problem," O'Byrne disclosed to People magazine. "She feels beyond terrible about this. This is totally uncharacteristic of her. It was the disease taking over."

An unlikely intervention

In a surprising twist, NFL player Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs expressed interest in helping Liddell. Jones took to social media, tweeting, "I'll pay for the wings that she stole to get her free." His offer, though unconventional, drew attention to the case, but it remains unclear whether his intervention could influence Liddell's situation, as she has already received her sentence.

O'Byrne confirmed that Jones' representatives had reached out and expressed hope that the situation might work out in Liddell's favor. However, the legal implications of such an offer are uncertain, and it is unlikely to alter the outcome of the court's decision.