Straight to Jail; Do Not Collect $1 Print
Thursday, June 23 2011

A Gaston, North Carolina, man robbed a bank, asking for $1, with the hope that he would end up in jail where he could receive medical care.
 
James Richard Verone has been suffering from several medical problems, including a limp in his left foot, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis and a recently detected protrusion on his chest.  Verone is unemployed after losing his job of 17 years as a Coca Cola deliveryman.  He tried working as a truck driver and in a convenience store, but neither job lasted for long.  He applied for and received food stamps, but they weren’t enough to keep him going.  Without health insurance, Verone could not afford medical treatment.
 
"The pain was beyond the tolerance that I could accept," Verone told the Gaston Gazette. "I kind of hit a brick wall with everything. ... If you don't have your health you don't have anything." 
 
So Verone conjured up his plan to rob a bank.  Before hailing a cab to take him to RBC Bank, he mailed a letter to the local newspaper, listing the Gaston County Jail as his return address.
 
"When you receive this a bank robbery will have been committed by me," Verone wrote in the letter. "This robbery is being committed by me for one dollar. I am of sound mind but not so much sound body."
 
Now, according to news reports, he's in jail and has an appointment with a doctor this week.  He said he's hoping to receive back and foot surgery, and get the protrusion on his chest treated. Then he plans to spend a few years in jail, before getting out in time to collect Social Security and move to the beach. 
 
But because Verone only asked for $1, he was charged with larceny, not bank robbery. If his punishment is not severe enough, he said he will do it again.  He currently has no plans to pay his $2,000 bond.  
 
—Source:  Yahoo.com