PROVIDENCE -- Richard Hatch, a Rhode Islander who gained national fame
as the first winner of the Survivor reality TV series, has agreed
to plead guilty to two counts of tax evasion after failing to report his
$1 million prize and other related earnings.
Hatch faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each
charge. However, as part of a plea agreement filed in federal court, the
U.S. Attorney's Office said it would recommend a lesser sentence.
Hatch avoided paying $200,000 to $400,000 in taxes by filing the false
returns, according to information in the plea agreement.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Providence on
Monday.
The charges were announced today by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The
details of the plea agreement appeared in court documents, which were
signed last week by Hatch and filed today.
Hatch, 43, of 21 Annandale Road, Newport, is also accused of failing to
report about $321,000 paid to him by a Boston radio station, according
to a press release today from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Hatch, a corporate trainer, gained national fame as the castaway
contestant known as "the fat, naked guy" on the CBS hit show's island
setting and, eventually, as its first winner.
According to the two-count information filed today in U.S. District
Court, Providence, Survivor Entertainment Group paid Hatch $10,000 in
August 2000 for appearing on the final episode of the initial Survivor
series and $1 million for being declared the winner of the show, the U.S.
Attorney's Office said.
AP photo
Richard Hatch, the first winning castaway of the CBS television hit show 'Survivor,' holds his prize, a $1 million check, on Aug. 25, 2000, at the CBS Television studios in Los Angeles. When he was selected as the winner, 51.7 million TV viewers were watching.
The information alleges that, in November 2002, Hatch filed a false
personal income tax return for the 2000 tax year because he did not
report the $1,010,000 paid to him by Survivor Entertainment Group, the
U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The information also alleges that Hatch filed false returns for the 2001
tax year because he failed to report income from a radio show.
According to the information, between January and December 2001, Hatch
made appearances on WQSX-FM, Boston, as a co-host of the radio program,
"The Wilde Show."
The owner of WQSX-FM, Entercom, Boston, LLC, paid Hatch $391,371 for
being on the show: $70,232 to Hatch personally at first and, later,
$321,139 through Tri-Whale Enterprises, a corporation that Hatch had
formed for himself, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The information alleges that, in October 2002, Hatch filed false
corporate and personal income tax returns for the 2001 tax year by
failing to report his earnings from the radio show.
Hatch did not return phone messages left for him today. His lawyer,
Justin Holden of Providence, said he and his client would have no
comment before the arraignment Monday.
In exchange for Hatch's guilty plea, prosecutors "will recommend that
the court impose a term of imprisonment at the lowest point of the range
of sentences" determined by federal sentencing guidelines, the plea
agreement says.
But it adds that the court won't be not bound by the prosecutors'
recommendations.
"The court is free to impose any sentence it deems appropriate up to and
including the statutory maximum," the agreement says.
While Hatch will be arraigned before Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond,
his case has been assigned to Chief Judge Ernest C. Torres, according to
the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The terms of the plea agreement do not free Hatch from his income tax
liability, including any penalties and interest. And it does not
restrict the IRS from pursuing administrative or civil actions against
Hatch. Hatch must also file amended tax returns for 2000 and 2001.
Hatch, formerly of Middletown, has had a knack for creating headlines
and staying in the public eye since emerging as the star of the
wildly-popular reality show five years ago.
Soon after winning the show's top prize, Hatch was arrested in
Middletown and charged with child-abuse, after Aquidneck Elementary
School teachers noticed bruises on his then-9-year-old adoptive son.
The boy told teachers and police that Hatch became angry when his son
could not keep up with him on an early-morning run. The boy said Hatch
had pulled him by the earlobe, made him do pushups, pushed his head into
the pavement and put his hands around the boy's neck.
After Hatch's arrest, his son was taken into care by DCYF. The charges
were later dropped and the boy returned to him.
In November of last year, Hatch appeared on the Dr. Phil TV Show
with his son, now 14, to discuss Hatch's concerns about a relationship
between the boy and a 28-year-old man.
Hatch had reported his concerns to the East Greenwich police in August.
They went to the man's house and found a boy, who Hatch said was his
son, hiding under a bed.
The police charged the man with enticement of children, first offense,
and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, both misdemeanors. The
man pleaded no contest to enticement. He received one year of probation
and was ordered to attend mental health counseling and to have no
contact with the boy.
Hatch, one of the show's most popular competitors, was again on the
television in millions of living rooms last year when he competed on
Survivor: All Stars.
Hatch couldn't recreate the magic of the first show, and he was voted
off by his tribemates, but not before the again-naked competitor created
a stir by confronting a woman from the other tribe.
-- With reports from projo.com staff writer Jack Perry, Journal
staffer Rich Salit and The Associated Press
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