Judge Nixes Ex-Con's Effort to Gain Cancer Care by Shoplifting, Arranges Another Health Plan
Desperate for high-quality medical treatment for his leukemia and remembering the excellent care he got during a 20-year prison stint for cocaine trafficking conspiracy, Frank J. Morrocco said he shoplifted $23 worth of goods from a New York state supermarket last month in the hope of being reincarcerated.
A federal prosecutor joined in that effort, arguing that Morrocco should be jailed for parole violation, especially because this wasn’t his only offense (he also got into an argument over a loud motorcycle and, he says unknowingly, spent time with a woman who was a convicted felon). But Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. saw the case differently, ordering the 56-year-old to apply for a state-subsidized treatment at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the Buffalo News reports.
Morrocco told the newspaper he appreciates the effort by the judge and his own lawyer, Joel L. Daniels, who said he will take his client to Roswell as soon as possible to apply for treatment. Another hearing is scheduled later this month on the federal charge of violating the terms of his supervised release.
