[DiamondSmiles]

This is truly sad. It's from last year, but, I don't recall seeing it. I hoped I could sneak it in since it's not August 1st yet ;)

A 59-year-old man has been jailed in Gastonia, N.C., on charges of larceny after allegedly robbing an RBC Bank for $1 so he could get health care in prison. Richard James Verone handed a female teller a note demanding the money and claiming that he had a gun, according to the police report.

He then sat down and waited for police to arrive. "… I say, 'I'll be sitting right over here, on the chair, waiting for the police,'" Verone told reporters, recalling the June 9 robbery in an interview from Gaston County Jail.

Gaston County Jail

Richard James Verone, 57, shown in this booking photo below, robbed a bank for $1 to get health care in prison. And wait for the police, he did.

"He's sitting on the sofa as you walk in the front door," the bank teller said in a 911 call.

Police arrested Verone where he sat. He was unarmed.

Verone said he asked for $1 to show that his motives were medical, not monetary, according to news reports. With a growth in his chest, two ruptured disks and no job, Verone hoped a three-year stint in prison would afford him the health care he needed.

"I'm sort of a logical person and that was my logic, what I came up with," Verone told reporters. "If it is called manipulation, then out of necessity because I need medical care, then I guess I am manipulating the courts to get medical care."

But the charge of larceny, not armed robbery, is unlikely to keep Verone behind bars for more than 12 months. He is being held in Gaston County Jail on a $2,000 bond, according to a spokesman for the jail, and is scheduled to appear in court June 28.

[chris50stang]

i guess he'll have to go back and do it the right way

[DiamondSmiles]

I think it's truly sad that he felt it was his only option.

[Monoxide]

Pretty sad how people in prison get better care than some people out of prison.

[mrm1109]

Thats funny. Me and my husband were just joking yesterday saying we were gonna become dumb criminals just to get free health care. We have a three year old so hopefully they'd give us a family cell. LOL

[Spiffyfable]

Ah... The New Great Reality slowly creeps in

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by mrm1109 ↗

Thats funny. Me and my husband were just joking yesterday saying we were gonna become dumb criminals just to get free health care. We have a three year old so hopefully they'd give us a family cell. LOL

I don't know where you are from, but, California has family rooms, kind of like a hotel suite, where, assuming the male is imprisoned, the wife and children can bring food and everything to spend the weekend. You have to get advance approval and I'm not sure how many you can get a year, but, I thought it was a great idea. They have a little playground with swings.

You have a roof over your head, a shower every day or every other day, free medical, three meals a day, but, I don't know how the food is, and NO privacy!

I would have to think hard about that one :)

[mrm1109]

Originally Posted by diamondsmiles ↗

I don't know where you are from, but, California has family rooms, kind of like a hotel suite, where, assuming the male is imprisoned, the wife and children can bring food and everything to spend the weekend. You have to get advance approval and I'm not sure how many you can get a year, but, I thought it was a great idea. They have a little playground with swings.

You have a roof over your head, a shower every day or every other day, free medical, three meals a day, but, I don't know how the food is, and NO privacy!

I would have to think hard about that one :)

I live in Pennsylvania and i dont know if we have family rooms or not..i never been to prison

[juliemd]

medical ain't free in prisons. From what I have heard the dentists are barbaric using nothing more then a local to extract wisdom teeth.

[Brometheus]

hmm. he seems like a nice guy. where are the donation pots for people who really need it? society donates to a bus monitor who cant monitor and should be retired, they donate to liars who use the money for their wedding.. ahh whatever.. but id donate to this guy. he really needs it.