US man pulls off $1-bank heist - for healthcare in jail!

Would you carry out a bank robbery for just $1 – and cheerfully go to jail for it? Well, perhaps you might consider it if you were James Verone of North Carolina – jobless, broke, and in desperate need of medical treatment he couldn't afford.

Verone walked into a branch of the RBC Bank in Gaston, NC unarmed, late last week and handed over a note to the teller saying, "This is a bank robbery, please only give me one dollar."

After she obliged, he told her he would be sitting in a nearby chair, waiting for the police.

The 59-year-old said he did everything he could to get caught so he could receive free health care in jail. "I'm sort of a logical person and that was my logic, what I came up with," Verone said. "I wanted to make it known that this wasn't for monetary reasons, but for medical reasons."

Verone has no medical insurance. He has a growth of some sort on his chest, two ruptured disks and a problem with his left foot. He has no job and a depleted bank account. He thought jail was the best place he could go for medical care and a roof over his head.

Verone was hoping for a three-year sentence. He'd then be able to collect social security when he got out, and says he'd head for the beach. "I've already looked at a condominium. I've spoken to a realtor, on Myrtle Beach," he said.