NFL Star Chris Jones Offers to Pay for $1.5 Million Worth of Stolen Chicken Wings After Cafeteria Worker Is Sentenced

When the Chicago defense lawyer saw reports that an NFL star wanted to put down over $1 million of his own money to get a local cafeteria worker out of prison, he thought it was a hoax.

Then, Patrick O’Byrne tells PEOPLE, he got a call from someone he understands represents Chris Jones, confirming the Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle’s tweet in which he promised: “I’ll pay for the wings that she stole to get her free.”

In a case that has since gone viral, last week, Vera Liddell, who was working as a cafeteria consultant for an Illinois school district, admitted to stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings – 11,000 cases – between July 2020 and February 2022, according to her other lawyer, Gregory LaPapa. The chicken wings were intended for underprivileged children receiving free lunches during the pandemic shutdown, he says.

(PEOPLE reached out to The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for more information, but they did not respond in time for publication.)

O’Byrne says the church-going 68-year-old woman from Cook County, Ill., who had no previous criminal record, made false orders of chicken wings, which she then resold and gambled away the proceeds.

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

Records obtained by PEOPLE show that she struggled financially, filing for bankruptcy at least twice in Chicago courts in 2009 and 2016.

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

Liddell – who, per the courts, was given credit for the six days she had already spent in jail –  is slated for discharge Aug. 3, 2030 and will be up for parole in 2029, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections online inmate roster. 

The class X felony normally carries between six and 30 years behind bars, according to her lawyers.

Shortly before she took the plea deal, O’Byrne says she told him: “My fate is in God’s hands.”

On Wednesday, Aug. 14, Liddell was admitted to Logan Correctional Facility, according to her online inmate roster. 

That same day, O’Byrne learned about Jones’s Tweet.

“I was stunned,” O’Byrne recalls. “I’ve been doing this for 42 years, and I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

O’Byrne spent a good deal of time on the phone, waiting on hold, trying to contact the Chiefs before he says he was disconnected. Then he says he got a call from someone he believes to be representing Jones.

“I hope everything works out so that we can get her out,” O’Byrne says.

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PEOPLE reached out to Jones, as well as to his agent and a spokesman for the Kansas City Chiefs to confirm the star’s intent to cover the cost of the chicken wings. Jones's representatives confirmed first to PEOPLE that they "are in contact with Ms. Liddell's attorney, gathering information on the case."

Unfortunately, her lawyers say, Jones’s offer is complicated by the fact that she has already been sentenced and placed in state custody as a convicted felon. 

They have 30 days from her sentencing to submit a motion to vacate her earlier plea and request a payment of restitution instead.

“The clock is ticking,” LaPapa says. “And Chris Jones has to be there with a checkbook.”