Vera Liddell, a former food service director at a school district in the Chicago area, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings. She pleaded guilty to theft and operating a criminal enterprise and was incarcerated at Cook County Jail. Liddell stole the chicken wings, intended for take-home meals for students during remote learning, between July 2020 and February 2022. She ordered over 11,000 cases of chicken wings from a supplier and picked up the orders in a district cargo van. The fraudulent activity was discovered during an audit in 2023 when the food service department exceeded its budget by $300,000. The district’s business manager found invoices for the chicken wings, which were not supposed to be served to students due to containing bones. Liddell’s scheme to steal the chicken wings was carried out during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when students were learning remotely but the district continued to provide meals for families to pick up. The Cook County District Attorney’s Office and Liddell’s defense attorney have not responded to requests for comment. There has been no response from Gordon Food Services and the school district as well.
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