Paying taxes is painful… but reading about them shouldn’t be.
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“Survivor” winner Richard Hatch is finally a free man. The controversial TV personality, sometimes referred to as the “fat naked guy” on the show, has completed his sentence for tax evasion and related charges.
Hatch walked out of jail this morning, about 6 a.m.
But that doesn’t mean that he’s completely off the hook. Hatch must still serve three years of supervised release, complete a mental health program and pay the remainder of his taxes.
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Richard Hatch is not having a good year. After qualifying for early release from federal prison, where he was serving time on tax evasion charges, he was allowed to spend the remainder of his sentence at his sister’s house as house arrest. Hatch, not necessarily being the most conventional guy, apparently had a different interpretation of his media appearance rules than the Bureau of Prisons did: his recent stints on TV and radio landed him in hot water when he failed to get the proper permissions.
And Hatch went back to jail. He then asked to be able to return to his sister’s house to serve out the remainder of his sentence. A federal judge denied that request.
Now, Hatch is appealing that decision and he has a surprising ally: the ACLU. The ACLU has been concerned about Hatch’s treatment since returning to jail among allegations that Hatch is being punished for speaking out against prosecutors in his case. If you recall, Hatch doesn’t actually think he went to jail for cheating on his taxes – he told Matt Lauer that it has everything to do with being gay.
Hmm… So what’s Joe Francis’ excuse?
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I feel like I should send Richard Hatch a fruit basket or something for making it so easy to find things to blog about…
As you know, Richard Hatch has been serving time for tax evasion for, among other things, not paying the tax on his “Survivor” winnings. He requested and was granted house arrest for the remainder of his sentence. But apparently, he doesn’t quite get the idea behind house arrest… To leave the house, you have to ask permission from the federal Bureau of Prisons. Only, he didn’t quite do that.
He opted to do three television interviews on Tuesday, all three for NBC-affiliated shows, including the “Today” show. He only asked permission to do the one. So he’s back in the slammer.
During the interviews, Hatch repeatedly claimed that he was innocent of the tax evasion charges. He says that he will pay the IRS when he receives a bill (which he says has never happened). And he now says that his conviction is the result of “prosecutorial misconduct” and discrimination because he is gay. Right. Not the million dollars he chose to not report. Just because he’s gay.
Oh Richard, Richard, Richard…
You can watch the entire interview here (about 7-1/2 minutes long):
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Gosh, with Richard Hatch out of prison, you’d think my chances to reference “Survivor” (interestingly, I’ve never watch a complete episode) have dimmed. Not completely.
One of my fellow legal bloggers, Sean Carter, has created “Blawger Survivor.” He’s challenged us to “Outpost. Outread. Outlast.” That, I think I can do. It’s so on.
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