It doesn't pay to win a million bucks. Not on Survivor anyway – especially if your name is Richard Hatch – general tax evader.
When Richard Hatch won his gigantic game show cheque, he forgot/couldn't be bothered to pay taxes on it. In court Hatch said it wasn't his fault. Hatch blamed the people behind the show, claiming they were set to pick up the tab. The problem there is, they testified in court that they clearly made it known to Hatch that he'd be responsible to pay the taxes for himself.
Now, for not paying them and lying in court, he's got a great big fat jail sentence.
Richard Hatch, the winner of the Survivor's first million dollar purse, is going to a place where "back stabbing" means something very different, "Beware of anyone who tries to approach from behind while swinging a 15 lb. pillowcase full of melded soap chunks" means pretty much the same thing, and the necklaces will be more pearl than immunity.
Hatch just got sentenced to 51 months in prison for failure to pay taxes on his seven figure winnings. He also skipped his taxes on $327,000 he earned co-hosting a radio programme, and on $28,000 he made from being a reputed slumlord. Sentence-wise Richard Hatch actually got kind of lucky; he was walloped with just over four years when he could have gotten as many as 13. He'd actually walked away from a plea deal, claiming that his innocence would be proven in the court.
The penalty here isn't just for not paying taxes, lying on the stand played a big part too. Richard Hatch should talk to Martha Stewart's lawyer. They'd get him back home and fitted for an electronic ankle monitor in no time. U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres, the man who reigned supreme in the court proceedings, said of his ruling:
"There's no nice way to say it, Mr. Hatch lied."
When the sentence came down, Richard Hatch turned to the gallery of onlookers where some family was waiting and said:
"See you later, Mom."
Cheer up Hatch – there's probably a bright side in there somewhere. Prison has a commissary, that'll be nice. It's got lots of free weight sets for imprisoned rap stars to trap you under, then pretend they weren't doing anything when the guard walks in. That'll be nice too if you like their music. The water's free – yeah, you can't discount the importance of things like constant hydration. Really, it'll be an orange jump-suited walk in the park. A park with a forest made entirely of rusty metal bars.
Read more:
Survivor champ sentenced in tax evasion case – Reuters
[story by Shawn Lindseth]