Crime Man Robs Bank and Demands $1 Just to Get Free Health Care in Jail

(By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze) - “I prepared myself for this,” James Richard Verone told the Gaston Gazette from behind a thick, glass window at the Gaston County Jail last week. But the jail might as well be called Verone’s free ticket to health care. At least that‘s how he’s treating it, and why he decided to rob a bank to get there.

See, Verone lost his job with Coca-Cola a few years ago and eventually became a convenience story clerk. That led to some aches and pains, a limp, and major pain once his arthritis flared up. He also found a protrusion in his chest. He went to see if he qualified for disability, but he didn’t, only food stamps. He didn’t want to burden his family with taking care of him, so he decided to do the next best thing — get you, the taxpayer, to pay for him. How’s that done? By robbing a bank, getting sent to jail, and getting free food, shelter, and medical care.

So he did. But there’s a catch: when he showed up to pull of the heist, he only demanded $1.