Cake Eating Criminals: Using the Criminal Justice System to Get Health Care

An interesting article from ABA Journal:

Defendant Says He Robbed a Bank to Get Prison Health Care

A North Carolina man who robbed a bank proved to be a cooperative criminal.
James Verone passed a note to the teller that asked for a dollar. Then he sat down and waited for police to arrive, WCNC.com reports. Verone wanted to get arrested to get prison health care.
Verone says he doesn’t have a job and doesn’t have any money. He has two ruptured disks, a growth on his chest, and a problem with his left foot. He told WCNC in a jailhouse interview that he’s getting good heath care now, although the prison doctor accused him of manipulating the system.
"[This is the] first time I've ever been in trouble with the law,” Verone said in the interview from the Gaston County Jail posted on WCNC’s website. “I'm sort of a logical person and that was my logic. [That was] what I came up with.”
Verone, 59, had hoped to spend three years in jail until he is released and begins collecting Social Security. He hopes to move to Myrtle Beach and buy a condominium at that time. Because he only asked for $1, though, he may not get as much jail time as he is seeking.

Interesting conversation has cropped up in the comments section, too.  One commenter criticizes Verone's actions as twisting the criminal justice system into a form of freeloading.  See Comment 19 from "Hard Worker":

What bothers me is the general sentiment in our country right now that if somebody wants something it should just be given them.  The American Dream is that you are provided the opportunity to pursue happiness…not merely given it.

And Comment 30, also from "Hard Worker":

I just don’t think it is ever justified to break the law in order to get what you want…no matter how “just” you believe your reason may be.  We live in a society of law, and I don’t think he is justified in what he did.

Still, others laud Verone as highlighting massive problems with U.S. health care.  See Comment 29, from "This guy is awesome. This country is sad":

I hope more and more people do this and other absurd acts to get healthcare so the rest of the world can see how greedy and selfish our government and wealthy top 5% of this country are.

And Comment 31 from the same:

If there is something wrong in this country and it’s laws, then by god people must act, legal or not. Laws are not morals.

And Comment 15 from "AndytheLawyer":

Of the 22 first world nations on earth, only the USA lacks a national health. 
As for #7—In an age with unemployment hovering at 10% and newly created joblets not providing health benefits, “Get a job and pay for it yourself” sounds a lot like “Let them eat cake.”

Is this about access to the ingredients essential to the pursuit of happiness, or is this a form of civil disobedience too erosive to the structure of justice in the U.S. to tolerate?  What should the judge do with this?  Thoughts?