People will do anything for socialist medicine.

The day Verone set out to commit his first felony, he mailed a letter to The Gazette.

He listed the return address as the Gaston County Jail.

“When you receive this a bank robbery will have been committed by me. This robbery is being committed by me for one dollar,” he wrote. “I am of sound mind but not so much sound body.”

Verone wanted to talk to a reporter to make sure people knew why he turned to crime. He figured he had nothing to lose.

“I knew that a felony would not hurt me. I cannot work anymore,” he said. “That felony is going to hurt my reputation.”