NFL's Chris Jones Wants to Pay $1.5M to Free Woman Who Stole Chicken Wings from Prison. Is This Possible? (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Chris Jones (left) and Vera Liddell (right).Photo:Michael Owens/Getty; Logan Correctional Center

Michael Owens/Getty; Logan Correctional Center

Just before an Illinois judge sentencedVera Liddellto nine years in prison forstealing $1.5 million of chicken wingsfrom the school district where she worked, the 68-year-old woman told her lawyer: “My fate is in God’s hands.”

A short time later, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jonestweetedout his viral offer: “I’ll pay for the wings that she stole to get her free.”

The Super Bowl winner’s proposal — whichhis representatives confirmed first to PEOPLE— seemed the miracle the cafeteria consultant was looking for.

But, as it turns out — while theoretically possible — there are significant hurdles to springing Liddell from prison.

“This is not Monopoly,” Liddell’s lawyer, Patrick O’Byrne, tells PEOPLE. “You don’t pay to get out of the penitentiary in Cook County, Illinois.”

Liddell – who was initially charged with one count of continuing financial crimes enterprise and one count of theft of more than $1 million, per the court clerk – has admitted to stealing 11,000 cases of chicken wings, which were purchased between July 2020 and February 2022, under the pretense that the food would go to underprivileged children who were then receiving free lunches during the pandemic shutdown, according to her other lawyer, Gregory LaPapa. She gambled away the proceeds of the false orders, adds O’Byrne.

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

Vera Liddell in mugshot.Logan Correctional Center

Logan Correctional Center

On Friday, Aug. 9, Liddell took a plea deal, knocking off the first charge and guaranteeing her a nine-year sentence for the remainingClass X felony, which can carry as much as 30 years behind bars.

In accordance with state law, Liddell’s lawyers have 30 days from her sentencing – that’s Sunday, Sept. 8 – to file a motion to vacate her earlier guilty plea. “The clock is ticking,” LaPapa says.

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“But that doesn’t solve the problem,” says O’Byrne, adding that Liddell’s status as an inmate of the Illinois Department of Corrections further complicates matters.

While the judge can find someone guilty or not guilty, she cannot reduce the charges, meaning that Liddell – who days after her sentencing wasadmittedinto the custody of Logan Correctional Center as Y64916 on Wednesday Aug. 14 – is “still stuck” in prison as an accused felon, according to O’Byrne.

Chris Jones in game against Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. on December 12, 2021.David Eulitt/Getty

David Eulitt/Getty

Only the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office can reduce the charges they initially filed against her.

And then, of course: “Chris Jones has to be there with a checkbook,” LaPapa adds.

PEOPLE reached out to state prosecutors, as well as Judge Pitman, but they did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The good news?

“I’m sure the school district would love to get the money,” says O’Byrne, adding: “So if Vera Liddell‘s guardian angel, Chris Jones, is willing to pay restitution, the state may consider that in resentencing her.”

source: people.com