A former food service director for an Illinois school district was sentenced to nine years in prison after admitting to embezzling $1.5 million in chicken wings intended for students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vera Liddell, 68, was employed by Harvey School District 152 and misappropriated the chicken wings by ordering them from the district’s food supplier, Gordon Food Services, from July 2020 to February 2022. She billed the district for the food while keeping it for herself, prosecutors said. Liddell ordered over 11,000 cases of chicken wings and collected them using a district cargo van.
Despite schools being closed due to the pandemic, the district continued to provide meal kits to students learning remotely.
Liddell was charged with theft and operating a criminal enterprise in January 2023.
The scheme came to light when the district’s business manager discovered invoices for the chicken wings during a routine audit, revealing an overrun of $300,000 in the food service budget.
Liddell had been with the district for over a decade.
