Woman Stole $1.5M in Chicken Wings to Fund Gambling Addiction, Lawyer Says

A lawyer representing Vera Liddell, the former Illinois school cafeteria consultant who was sentenced to nine years in prison after admitting to stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings from a local district, says she committed the theft to fund her gambling addiction.

“She’s just a little sweetheart that’s got a gambling problem,” her attorney, Patrick O’Byrne, recently told PEOPLE. “She feels beyond terrible about this. This is totally uncharacteristic of her. It was the disease taking over.”

On Aug. 9, the 68-year-old woman pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft of more than $1 million and was sentenced to nine years in prison, according to the Cook County’s Sixth Municipal District Circuit Court clerk’s office. 

Lidell was working as a cafeteria consultant for an Illinois school district at the time of the theft, which occurred between July 2020 and February 2022, according to her other lawyer, Gregory LaPapa. The lawyer says the chicken wings were intended for underprivileged children receiving free lunches during the pandemic shutdown.

According to O’Byrne, Liddell made false orders of chicken wings, which she then resold, and then gambled away the proceeds. Records obtained by PEOPLE show that she struggled financially, filing for bankruptcy at least twice in Chicago courts in 2009 and 2016.

“She feels incredibly distraught, terrible about what she did,” O’Byrne told The New York Times. “She can’t even believe she did it.”

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Since then, the case has gone viral. Famously, it has caught the attention of NFL star Chris Jones, who said he wanted to help Liddell.

“I’ll pay for the wings that she stole to get her free,” the Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle said in an Aug. 13 post on X, formerly Twitter.

O’Byrne says he was contacted by someone he believes to be representing Jones and hopes “everything works out so that we can get her out.”

Jones’ representatives confirmed first to PEOPLE that they “are in contact with Ms. Liddell’s attorney, gathering information on the case.”

It’s unclear whether Jones’ offer will affect her sentence. Her lawyers say they have 30 days from her sentencing to submit a motion to vacate her earlier plea and request a payment of restitution instead.

PEOPLE reached out to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for more information but did not immediately hear back.

If you or someone you know is struggling with a gambling problem, please contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network at 1-800-522-4700 or go to gamtalk.org.