The need for life-saving healthcare inspired one man to intentionally get arrested in 2012.
Frank Morrocco of Amherst, New York, was released from prison earlier that year after serving 20 years on felony drug conspiracy charges.
Unable to afford healthcare for a rare form of leukemia, the 56-year-old Morrocco walked into a Wegman's grocery store, stepped up to the counter, and took $23 worth of goods in plain sight of store employees before walking out.
He was eventually arrested on a shoplifting charge — a violation of his supervised release that Morrocco said he hoped would land him back in prison.
"It was an act of desperation. I went into that store and took things I didn’t need, and I made sure a lot of people saw me," Morrocco told The Buffalo News. "At the time I did it, I felt that I didn’t have any other way to get the care that I need for my leukemia."
It was not reported whether Morrocco got the treatment, and he was released from prison in April 2013.