William Gallagher, 68, appeared in court in Wisconsin less than a year after leaving prison in New Jersey.

He told the judge that he committed the attempted bank robbery in Wisconsin because a prisoner had told him, nearly half a century ago, that the state had “the best food, commissary, this, that, everything”, The Times reports.

Gallagher trusted the man’s assessment because he had “been in just about every prison in the country”, he said.

However, Judge David Hansher told Gallagher that he was probably wrong, as he had seen studies indicated Wisconsin was “like, 42 overall”.

Gallagher, unperturbed, continued to demand he was imprisoned in Wisconsin, and promised the judge that he wouldn’t encourage “anybody back in New York or New Jersey” to come to Wisconsin.

Judge Hansher ordered a pre-sentence investigation and Gallagher will return to court next week.