Former Illinois school cafeteria director Vera Liddell may be getting out of prison soon.
The 68-year-old was convicted of stealing 11,000 cases of frozen chicken wings worth $1.5 million from 2020 to 2022.
Liddell misused a school budget intended to provide meal paks for underprivileged children.
On August 9, she pled guilty in exchange for a 9-year prison sentence.
RELATED: NFL star offers to pay $1.5M for chicken wings to free Vera Liddell
Liddell’s attorney Patrick O’Byrne told PEOPLE “She’s just a little sweetheart that’s got a gambling problem.”
“She feels beyond terrible about this. This is totally uncharacteristic of her. It was the disease taking over.”
Shortly before Liddell took the plea deal, O’Byrne says she told him: “My fate is in God’s hands.”
On August 13, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones tweeted: “I’ll pay for the wings that she stole to get her free.”
O’Byrne tells PEOPLE he thought Jones’ offer was a hoax. He said he got in touch with Jones’s rep about his generous offer.
“I was stunned,” O’Byrne tells PEOPLE. “I’ve been doing this for 42 years, and I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
O’Byrne said he will file a motion to vacate Liddell’s plea deal and pay the $1.5 million in restitution.
According to PEOPLE, they have 30 days from her sentencing date to submit a motion to vacate her plea deal.
“The clock is ticking,” her other lawyer, Gregory LaPapa said. “And Chris Jones has to be there with a checkbook.”
“I hope everything works out so that we can get her out,” O’Byrne tells PEOPLE.
