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While many people have pondered the lengths they'd go for a Klondike ice cream bar, have you ever wondered what you'd be willing to do for chicken wings? 68-year-old Illinois school worker Vera Liddell was willing to go as far as steal for them, but she didn't stop with just one. Over the course of 19 months during the COVID-19 pandemic, Liddell stole over 11,000 district-provided take-home meals (the majority of them being chicken wings) meant for students taking remote classes as part of a free school meal program.
Vera Liddell had experienced financial issues in the past, with multiple bankruptcies on her record. As the food service director for Harvey School District 152, it was a simple scheme for her to pull off. She had also earned the district's trust after working there for over 13 years. Liddell's plot involved making unauthorized orders to Gordon Food Services, the district's main food distributor, and picking them up in a district van. After the pandemic ended, however, her plot was uncovered.
During a mid-year audit, the resulting excessive food service budget was discovered by the district's business manager. This led to an investigation that uncovered approximately $1.5 million worth of food Liddell stole, along with security footage of her picking up the stolen meals. What cast further suspicion was the fact that the district didn't even serve chicken wings to students on account of the bones being a safety issue. Liddell, filled with remorse, pled guilty on August 9, 2024, leading to a nine-year prison sentence in Cook County Jail for her criminal actions. --->READ MORE HERE
What a clucking shame.
An Illinois school worker will spend the next nine years in prison after she stole 11,000 cases of chicken wings worth $1.5 million that were meant for students during the height of the COVID pandemic, prosecutors said.
Vera Liddell used her position as the food service director at Harvey School District 152 to carry out the unappetizing crime that was only unearthed after the district realized the school system blew past its budget, prosecutors reportedly said.
Liddell, 68, started the scheme in July 2020 and didn’t stop until February 2022, the Cook County State Attorney’s Office said, according to ABC 7 Chicago.
While she bought up the incredible amount of poultry and used a school cargo van to pick up the food, students never saw a single wing, prosecutors said, per WGN.
Schools were closed, but the district near Chicago was still sending out meal kits to students in remote learning during the height of the pandemic.
She was originally charged with theft and operating a criminal enterprise in January 2023. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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