Richard Hatch Sentenced to Over Four Years in Jail

Many readers have been following the trials (literally) and tribulations of Richard Hatch, the first winner of Survivor, and also the first person to ever be inducted into both the Reality TV Hall of Fame and, more recently, the Reality TV Hall of Shame. As you likely already know, he was accused of tax evasion, most notably for failing to give the IRS its share of his Survivor million-dollar prize, but also for other income sources. And prosecutors also said he misused funds that were supposed to go to a charity he was sponsoring.

Hatch was convicted of the tax charges, but not of those related to the charity. However, as discussed last month, the RealityNewsOnline crack legal staff said that the judge can consider those issues when deciding on a penalty, even though Hatch was found not guilty of them.

Indeed, that’s just what U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres did, sentencing Hatch yesterday to four years, three months in prison. Plus, of course, he has to pay the money owed to the IRS.

Torres said he issued a tougher punishment than had originally been expected because it was “very clear” to him that “Hatch lied” on the stand, and that some of the things he said defied logic and were “inherently incredible.”

For his part, Hatch told the judge before sentencing, “I believe I’ve been completely truthful and completely forthcoming throughout the entire process,” and claimed he could explain everything if given the chance. Uh huh. This seems rather difficult to believe given that, among other claims, Hatch said at the trial that he thought the show was responsible for paying taxes on his winnings, yet he had an accountant prepare two versions of his taxes – one with Survivor winnings and one without. Indeed, prosecutors noted in requesting a longer sentence for Hatch that his testimony conflicted with virtually every other key witness in the trial!

Hatch’s attorney has already filed a notice of appeal of the sentence. In the meantime, Hatch will get credit for the time he has already served, and federal corrections officials will have a few weeks to determine where he will be placed for the long haul. His attorney will almost certainly request a minimum security prison.

And so Richard Hatch’s fall is complete. It seems almost certain that his incredible ego led him to this point. Yes, he was a smart guy – as he showed on Survivor. But sometimes it’s possible to be too smart for your own good. That sure appears to be the case here. Did Hatch actually think he could get away with not paying his taxes? Looks like it. But he fought the law and the law won. Not only did this jury side against him, but so did the judge.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor articles:

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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