NYC’s ex-school food chief convicted in bribery case tied to icky chicken tenders
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A man who oversaw food service for New York City schools was convicted Wednesday by a federal jury in Brooklyn in a bribery case that picked apart how chicken tenders riddled with bone and bits of metal were served for months in the nation’s biggest public school system.
Former city Department of Education official Eric Goldstein and three men who founded a school food vendor — Blaine Iler, Michael Turley and Brian Twomey — were found guilty of bribery, conspiracy and other charges after a monthlong trial.
It delved into school menus, from yogurt parfait to ravioli. And the trial gave jurors a stomach-churning look at what some students and school staffers encountered when a brand called Chickentopia turned up on their plates in 2016 and 2017.