(StraightShooterNews.com) – In an eyebrow-raising development, a woman was arrested and will remain behind bars for a long time over one unlikely topic: chicken wings.
Vera Liddell, an Illinois school employee, will serve nine years in prison for stealing 11,000 cases of chicken wings.
Valued at $1.5 million, the chicken wings were intended for students during the COVID pandemic’s peak, according to prosecutors.
Liddell, who was the food service director at Harvey School District 152, exploited her role to carry out this significant theft.
Prosecutors indicated that the crime came to light only after the district noticed its budget had been substantially exceeded.
As reported by the Cook County State Attorney’s Office, Liddell orchestrated this scheme from July 2020 to February 2022.
According to information from WGN, despite buying a huge amount of chicken wings and using a school cargo van for transportation, the students never received any of the food.
Even though the schools were shut due to the pandemic, the district, which is near Chicago, continued to distribute meal kits to students engaged in remote learning at the time.
In January 2023, Liddell faced charges of theft and running a criminal operation.
After a decade as the head of food services for the district, she entered a guilty plea and was subsequently sentenced to nine years behind bars, as WGN covered.
The discovery of the theft occurred during a routine audit by a school business manager.
The person in charge noted that food expenses were $300,000 over the planned budget with several months still to go in the school year, which ultimately led to Liddell’s arrest.
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