Former food service director in Illinois district gets 9 years in prison for stealing $1.5 million in chicken wings

The former food service director for a school district in Chicago's south suburbs, has been sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings from the district over 19 months.

ABC7 Chicago reports that Vera Liddell, 66, who worked for Harvey School District 152 for more than 10 years, had been charged with theft and operating a criminal enterprise.

Prosecutors say that as food service director, Liddell was responsible for placing orders with Gordon Food Services, a main supplier for the district. She placed orders for the chicken wings from July 2020 to February 2022, billing the district but keeping the food.

An audit last year discovered that the district's food service department had exceeded its annual budget by $300,000, and the school year was only half over. The business manager for the Harvey district uncovered the invoices for the chicken wings, according to court records.

The purchases raised suspicion because school districts typically would not serve chicken wings to students because they contain bones.