The Newport resident now faces the possibility of new tax evasion charges.

09:05 AM EST on Friday, March 4, 2005

BY ALEX KUFFNER
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Survivor star Richard Hatch is set to face a federal grand jury on tax evasion charges after a plea agreement with prosecutors fell apart this week.

The U.S. Attorney's office announced yesterday that Hatch had backed out of a deal to plead guilty to charges he had failed to pay taxes on more than $1 million he earned in 2000 from winning the first season of CBS' hit reality series.

Hatch, a corporate consultant who lives in Newport, was set to appear today before U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres for sentencing, but the hearing was canceled.

Prosecutors had the charges against Hatch dismissed on Wednesday. According to documents they filed in court, Hatch signed the deal Jan. 6 but has since indicated through his attorney that he will not enter a guilty plea. No reason was given for his decision.

When he was arraigned on Jan. 25, Hatch told U.S. Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond that he would waive his right to a grand jury investigation, but he did not enter a plea.

When U.S. Attorney Lee Vilker addressed the judge, he cited the plea agreement Hatch had signed, in which prosecutors recommended "a term of imprisonment at the lowest range of sentences for the offense."

The charges against Hatch, two counts of filing false income tax returns, carried a maximum of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

Those charges are no longer on the table. The grand jury will consider "all possible charges," said Tom Connell, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office.

"It's now up to the grand jury, which will examine the evidence," said Connell.

He would not say when the grand jury would convene.

Hatch's lawyer, John E. MacDonald, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Prosecutors alleged that Hatch, 43, did not report to the Internal Revenue Service the $10,000 he received for appearing in the final episode of Survivor's first season, or the $1-million award that came with winning.

He was also accused of evading taxes on $321,000 he was paid for a subsequent gig as a talk-show host on WQSX (93.7 FM) in Boston.

The government contended that Hatch had filed false tax returns in 2000 and 2001.

Since winning Survivor, Hatch has been in and out of the news. Last year, he appeared in Survivor's all-star season and also went on the Dr. Phil television show to talk about his adopted son's relationship with a suspected pedophile.

Hatch has been free on bail since his arraignment.