HARVEY, Ill. (WGN) — An Illinois school worker found guilty of stealing $1.5 million worth of food, mostly chicken wings, is getting some love from an NFL star.
On Tuesday, Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Tackle Chris Jones posted to “X” offering to “pay for the wings that she stole to get her free,” in a bid to get Vera Liddell out of prison.
On Friday, a judge sentenced Liddell, 68, to nine years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge.
She was the food service director for Harvey School District 152. Harvey, Illinois lies roughly 22 miles south of Chicago.
Cook County prosecutors accused her of stealing massive amounts of food meant for take-home meals for students learning remotely during the pandemic.
The district consists of five schools, records show, and the total enrollment is 1,600 children with more than 80% of students qualifying as “low income.”
Liddell billed the district and picked up over 11,000 cases of chicken wings in a school district cargo van, prosecutors said, but students never got a chance to eat them.
The scheme was uncovered by the district’s business manager during a routine mid-year audit.
“She discovered individual invoices signed by Liddell for massive quantities of chicken wings, an item that was never served to students because they contain bones,” prosecutors said in an earlier court document.
While nice to have football star in her corner, the criminal justice system will not allow for her release.
Attorneys representing Liddell told The New York Times they have not been contacted by either Jones, his agent or the Kansas City chiefs.