Man robs bank for $1

A video has surfaced of an American man admitting how he robbed a bank for $1 (60p) so he could go to jail and receive free medical treatment.

James Verone, of Gastonia, North Carolina, was so desperate to get help for a bad back, foot and growths on his chest that he made the calculated decision to stage the unusual robbery.
The unemployed 59-year-old, who cannot afford health insurance, told a reporter how he walked up to the cashier and handed a bizarre note demanding just one dollar from her.

The note also said he was armed, but in fact he wasn’t. The suffering man then said that he purposely sat on the couch in the RBC bank to wait for the police to arrest him.

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Unfortunately for Mr Verone, because he wasn’t in possession of a weapon at the time of the robbery, the police could only charge him with larceny – a sentence that warrants a shorter jail time than that what he had initially hoped for.

Speaking from Garston County Sheriff’s Office, Mr Verone said that he had never been in trouble with the law before.

“I'm sort of a logical person and that was my logic. This is what I came up with,” explained Mr Verone.

According to the jail’s inmate handbook, inmates pay a small fee of $5 (£3) for initiated visits and declared emergency visits.

The handbook also reads: “However, no one will be denied access to health care whether they have money or not.”

Mr Verone hoped his crime would get him a minimum of three years so he can carry on receiving free health care.