Vera Liddell stole some 11,000 boxes of chicken wings, which had been intended to feed students at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prosecutors explained the food program had been aimed to provide meals to children while they were studying from home during the covid lockdowns.
As many families rely on the free school meals offered by schools this was a way to help keep that option there.
A proffer presented at Liddell's bonding read: “The massive fraud began at the height of COVID during a time when students were not allowed to be physically present in school.
“Even though the children were learning remotely, the school district continued to provide meals for the students that their families could pick up.”
It was at this point that Liddell saw an opportunity to begin the fraud.
The 68-year-old would place orders for cases of chicken wings on the school's account, taking advantage of her position as food service head at the district near to Chicago, which she had held for some 10 years.
Initially the scheme went unnoticed, with Liddell ordering the wings on the school account picking them up in a delivery van.
The intended recipients of the scheme, the students, never saw any of it.
Liddell's scheme was finally discovered after a routine audit of the school district's expenditure found that the food expenditure was $300,000 over budget, despite there still being months left in the school year.
Prosecutors said that the auditor "discovered individual invoices signed by Liddell for massive quantities of chicken wings, an item that was never served to students because they contain bones."
According to Gordon Food Service, the supply company which had sold the wings, Liddell was known to them “due to the massive amount of chicken wings she would purchase."
The wings were purchased separately from the approved food orders made for the district.
Gordon Food Service had believed that the purchases for the wings had been approved and billed the school district accordingly.
Following the audit in January 2022, Liddell was arrested.
As for what she actually did with the wings, that was not clear.
The enormous theft was carried out in the course of hundreds of orders over the year.
Liddell was charged over the missing wings, and was sentenced to nine years in jail after pleading guilty.
Topics: News, US News, Food and Drink, Crime
