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| Some Inmates Say Crime Does Pay |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/27/2001 |
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Larry Causey figured he couldn't afford cancer treatment in a hospital, so he went to a place where it's free: jail. Causey, 57, called the FBI and told them he was about to rob the post office in West Monroe, La. At the post office, he handed a note to a teller demanding money, then left empty-handed and sat in his car until officers arrested him. 'Larry's very sick, so getting arrested made him very happy,'' said Jay Nolen, Causey's lawyer. Causey pleaded guilty to attempted robbery March 21 and is now getting the care he needs - complements of the Ouachita Parish Jail. Doctors have put him on three types of medication and are planning to perform a colonoscopy to determine the extent of his cancer. Causey's medical case may be extreme, but his story isn't uncommon. While statistics aren't available, sheriffs nationwide say they're also arresting people willing to trade their freedom for a free visit to the doctor. State and federal laws require jails and prisons to care for sick inmates. As a result, sheriffs say their medical budgets are being inflated. Hall County, Neb., for example, was forced to double its inmate medical budget from $50,000 in fiscal 2000 to $100,000 in 2001, but inmate medical bills have already exceeded $130,000, according to the director of the county's corrections department. Medicaid benefits are automatically canceled when a person is incarcerated, said Traci Billingley, spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Most insurance providers deny coverage when a policyholder is incarcerated, but numerous prisoners aren't insured in the first place. Besides cancer of the colon, intestines and prostate, Causey suffers from diabetes and polycethemia, a blood condition that requires regular transfusions. The post office robbery was Causey's second deliberate attempt to be incarcerated. Earlier in March, he skipped a court hearing for a traffic violation. After a warrant was issued for his arrest, Causey surrendered with a suitcase and toothbrush in hand. Jail officials turned him away because their computer hadn't processed the legal paperwork. Although Billingley said federal prisons haven't noticed a trend of people seeking to be jailed solely for the health care, Nolen said Causey purposely committed a federal crime because he knew federal prisons often have superior medical treatment. Causey will have to wait until his August sentencing hearing before he can move into the federal system, however. Nolen said Causey felt he had no other option than to seek a doctor's care in jail: ``He told me he felt that if he did not get medical attention, he was going to die.'' |
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