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Vera Liddell, a former food service director, has been sentenced after she allegedly stole $1.5 million worth of chicken wings from an Illinois school district.
According to the New York Post, the 68-year-old worked as the food service director for Harvey School District 152 for the past ten years. WGN-TV adds that between July 2020 and February 2022, Liddell stole “massive amounts” of food “meant for take-home meals for students learning remotely during the pandemic.”
The means “mainly” consisted of chicken wings, the outlet notes.
Liddell reportedly ordered more than 11,000 “cases of chicken wings” from the school district’s food provider. Furthermore, the woman allegedly “picked up the order in a district cargo van.” However, the food allegedly never made its way to Harvey school district students.
“The massive fraud began at the height of COVID during a time when students were not allowed to be physically present in school,” a proffer reportedly stated during a bond hearing for Liddell last year. “Even though the children were learning remotely, the school district continued to provide meals for the students that their families could pick up.”
WGN-TV reports that the district’s business manager uncovered Liddell’s alleged scheme during a mid-year business audit. At the time, the manager reportedly noticed the school district was $300,000 over budget “despite only being halfway through the school year.”
According to the New York Post, Liddell was initially charged with “theft” and “operating a criminal enterprise” in early 2023. Furthermore, the outlet notes that she has since entered a guilty plea and was recently sentenced to nine years in prison.
Liddell is not the only individual to steal from a surprising source. As The Shade Room previously reported, four individuals were convicted in July after the group allegedly stole over $760,000 from multiple churches nationwide.
The group allegedly was able to do so by stealing donation checks out of church mailboxes.
In July, it was also reported that authorities were still seeking to locate two additional suspects.
