A 59-year-old unemployed North Carolina man says he tried to rob a Gastonia bank of $1 to get arrested so he would have access to medical care, WCNC-TV reports.

In a weekend interview with the Charlotte TV station, James Verone tells reporter Rad Berky that he has no money but suffers from a growth on his chest and ruptured discs.

He calls himself a "logical-type person" and the bank robbery scheme was the best he could come up with to get medical treatment.

Verone approached the teller window two weeks ago with a note that read, 'This is a bank robbery, and I need medical attention." He then sat down on a sofa and waited for police to arrive.

He says he hopes for a three-year sentence, so he would be eligible for Social Security by the time he gets out.

His plan may not work entirely as he had hoped. Because he demanded only $1 and did not use a weapon, Verone was charged not with bank robbery, but with larceny, which carries a much shorter sentence.