Has it come to this? Man robs bank to go to prison till eligible for SS

[dajoki]

MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15240979/

Pre-Social Security plan: Rob bank, go to prison
Discouraged job-hunter asks for 3-year sentence to last till golden years

Updated: 1 hour, 14 minutes ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A man who couldn't find steady work came up with a plan to make it through the next few years until he could collect Social Security: He robbed a bank, then handed the money to a guard and waited for police.

On Wednesday, Timothy J. Bowers told a judge a three-year prison sentence would suit him, and the judge obliged.

"At my age, the jobs available to me are minimum-wage jobs. There is age discrimination out there," Bowers, who turns 63 in a few weeks, told Judge Angela White.

The judge told him: "It's unfortunate you feel this is the only way to deal with the situation."

<<snip>>

"It's not the financial plan I would choose, but it's a financial plan," prosecutor Dan Cable said.