A MAN TRIED to rob a Pennsylvania bank of $1 because he hoped to be sent to a federal prison nearby.

Jeffrey McMullen, a 50-year-old regular customer of an AmeriServ bank in the western Pennsylvania town of Northern Cambria, handed notes to two tellers demanding just one dollar, according to a police complaint reported by The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown.

The tellers thought it was a joke, police said. He then spoke with a new accounts employee and repeated he was robbing the bank of one dollar.

Police say McMullen apparently wanted to be prosecuted federally so he could be taken to a prison in central Pennsylvania.

Last year a man in North Carolina stole a $1 bill from a bank so that he could receive free medical care in jail.

McMullen awaits a preliminary hearing.

Under terms set by a Northern Cambria district judge, he must undergo a mental evaluation and post $50,000 bail in order to win release from jail.

One note given to tellers said:

FBI custody. Preferbly (sic) Loretto Pa. No press. Seal all files.

Police took that to be a request that McMullen hoped authorities would not publicise his case.

The other note said:

Federal bank robbery. Please hand over $1.00.

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