By KATIE MOISSE
June 20, 2011
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,
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.
June 20, 2011
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,
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.
The guy is do desperate he commits, by statute, an ARMED ROBBERY, in most states punishable by up to life in prison although average sentence is 1-10 years and to avoid medical costs the state only charges him with larceny? Once again proves the joke that our legal and health care system are.
The fact that there are indeed exceptions where a hospital will offer to eat the cost of a procedure for a patient is irrelevent, those are exceptions, not the norm. And "tons of free clinics" littered all over the country? What are you on? You may find one in a trailer-like building here and there, but the care you will receive there falls well short of what any dog can receive at the vet. Furthermore, they are only equipped to deal with limited health problems, if you're problem is X, Y, or Z they cannot help you - provided "they" even exist where you live. And as for Medicaid, lemme just say: LMFAO. You can't even use it at most joints, they don't accept it. Certain hospitals do, but you still owe big afterwards. And Medicaid simply doesn't cover anything that costs over like....five bucks - which is everything.
Cappa not touting but if u want to look at a productive healthcare model then search medicare in australia. Envy of the world. Basic privileges democratic governments should give in exchange for taxes are free healthcare and education. We work hard to help fill the governments coffers so u should be rewarded in return. If you aint getting at a minimum that then ur being short changed.
