You could unlock the phone and try flashing to some kind of stock ROM or 3rd party ROM. Unlocking the phone is a pain on a 64-bit OS, so make sure you have a 32-bit OS available before trying it.
This is a
great guide on XDA that I used to unlock my Vogue. If your phone has been flashed before, one way to see if it has already been unlocked is to hold your camera button and power when turning the phone off. If you get a multicolored screen that says "SPL-2.31.CoKe" it has been unlocked already.
*Tip* When pressing the two buttons, do not hold the camera button first, then the power... it has a tendency to fail in my experience. Press and hold them at the exact same time! If you get the multicolor boot screen but want to boot back into the OS after, get out the stylus and press the little hole to the right of the USB port on the bottom.
Now, you said the phone says its on the Verizon network. It's possible that the PRL was changed to a Verizon PRL. To check quickly, there are two codes you can use on your phones dialer (codes that you will get familiar with very quickly), and they are ##775 (##PRL) and ##778 (##PST). On phones that already have custom ROMs, these same codes still work, but require another # at the end (so ##PRL#, ##PST#).
Now, when you use the PST code, you must first select "edit," then enter the SPC. If the phone is unlocked already, the SPC is normally "000000." If its not '000000,' refer to the "SuperCID" section on the above linked phone unlocking guide.
After that, you will finally be in EPST. In this first screen you can see what the ESN. You can check to see if that matches the ESN on your phone's lable under the batter (good way to make sure it hasn't been hacked in "a bad way" before you bought it).
You will see a button "View Info" click that then find "PRL." Click PRL then you will be presented with a screen that will list the "PRL ID." If the phone is using a Verizon PRL, it should list something like 51xxx or if its a REALLY new PRL 52xxx. Now, either in this menu, or in the ##PRL menu, you can switch PRL's with one you have downloaded. Click on the empty block next to "Update PRL File" and the "Edit" menu option will pop up. Click it.
You can then click Browse and find the PRL file you have previously uploaded to your phone. When the phone ask you to apply this update, it will then restart after. Reenter the PST or go to Start > Settings > System > Device Information
Since Metro PCS doesn't have a stock ROM for you to try flashing, I would flash a basic ROM. My first recommendation would be
the NuVogue series. They are basic ROMs, built on older but stable versions of WM. Use the "DIRECT DOWNLOAD" to download the carrier generic version of the ROM.
After the ROM is flashed, you have a few options (niether of which I have experience with). This
thread on XDA claims to have a Metro PCS carrier cab you could try to setup Data. This
thread here on ppcgeeks has all of the settings you will need to set to get things working (manually)!
I hope this is enough info to get you started!