In 2011, James Richard Verone didn’t walk into a North Carolina bank to steal a fortune. He walked in to “steal” a doctor’s appointment.

A Life Broken by Debt and Pain
After 17 years as a delivery driver, Richard Verone found himself in a nightmare common to many: jobless, uninsured, and physically failing. With ruptured discs in his back, a protruding lump on his chest, and a debilitating foot injury, the 59-year-old was in constant agony. Having exhausted his savings and being too young for Social Security, he felt the world had closed its doors on him.

The Most Polite “Heist” in History
On June 9, 2011, Verone took a taxi to an RBC Bank in Gastonia. His “weapon” was a note demanding exactly one dollar. After handing the note to the teller, he didn’t run. He simply told her, “I’ll be sitting right over there in the chair waiting for the police,” and calmly sat down to wait for his arrest.

Jail: The Only Clinic Left
Verone’s goal was simple: get convicted of a crime serious enough to land him in prison for several years. In his mind, a prison cell was better than a street corner because it came with three meals a day and, most importantly, federally mandated healthcare.

“I’m a logical person and that was my logic,” Verone told reporters from jail. “I exercised all the options I had, and this was the last resort.”
The Legal Outcome
Verone’s plan didn’t go exactly as hoped. Because he only demanded $1 and showed no actual weapon, he was charged with larceny from a person rather than armed robbery. This meant a much shorter sentence than the three years he had calculated he needed to reach the age of Social Security eligibility.

His story remains a haunting symbol of the lengths to which an individual will go when the choice is between “crime” and “dying in pain.”