Elderly Cafeteria Director Sentenced To 9 Years In Prison For Stealing $1.5M In Chicken Wings From Schools
An Illinois cafeteria director has been sentenced to prison after stealing over a million's worth of chicken wings.
Vera Liddell, who worked in the Harvey School District in Illinois, will serve 9 years behind bars for her food-related crimes. According to 'PEOPLE,' the cafeteria worker stole over $1.5 million worth of chicken wings from the school district.
With such a hefty sum of food stolen, Liddell was charged with theft and operating a criminal enterprise.
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'WGN' reported that the scam ran by the 68-year-old began back in 2020. "The massive fraud began at the height of COVID during a time when students were not allowed to be physically present in school," court documents revealed at Liddell's bond hearing. "Even though the children were learning remotely, the school district continued to provide meals for the students that their families could pick up."
According to prosecutors, the cafeteria worker would place orders through the district and then keep the food for herself. She was not found out until her accounting was audited. The district had exceeded its food budget by $300,000 halfway through the year.
Through some investigating it was discovered that she ordered over 11,000 cases of chicken wings.
Furthermore, based on the court records, chicken wings are not a product that is typically ordered for student lunches. This is due to the bones that they contain. This was another aspect that attracted the attention of authorities to the overwhelming strangeness of the budgetary discrepancy. She continued running this scam until February 2022.
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Liddell pleaded guilty to theft and operating a criminal enterprise on Friday.
She previously served as the food service director for the Chicago school district.
