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"Survivor" Champ: I'm No Cheat
He might have played the snake on TV, but Richard Hatch wants the world to know he's no crook.
Hatch, who secured a place in the pop-culture pantheon as the "fat naked guy" who backstabbed his way to the $1 million grand prize on the inaugural season of CBS' Survivor, pleaded innocent Monday to a slew of federal charges, including failing to pay taxes on said $1 million.
The reality TV star entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Providence, Rhode Island, his home state. Hatch, 44, was indicted earlier this month by a grand jury for allegedly failing to pay the Internal Revenue Service taxes on his Survivor winnings, filing a false tax return, and committing wire fraud, bank fraud and mail fraud.
Prosecutors say Hatch neglected to mention the $1,037,000 jackpot and Pontiac Aztec valued at $27,074 he won on Survivor when he filed his tax returns for 2000 and 2001. He also allegedly failed to report $327,000 in income for cohosting a Boston-based radio show, as well as $28,000 he earned from a rental property in Newport, Rhode Island.
The ex-corporate trainer was also accused of scheming to cheat the government and the public by using his Horizon Bound charity, ostensibly created to help troubled teens, to funnel $36,000 in donations to himself to cover his personal expenses.
Hatch rebuffed a plea deal in March in which he could have pleaded guilty to two counts of tax evasion and paid his back taxes in exchange for the prosecutor recommending a light sentence instead of the five-year prison term and potential $500,000 fines he would have faces.
But Hatch backed out, saying he did nothing wrong. Then prosecutors sent the case to the grand jury, which rung him up on eight additional counts earlier this month.
After Monday's arraignment, Hatch held court with reporters.
"It was absurd in the spring, and it's still absurd," Hatch told reporters. "They thought I was going to accept two years in jail for something I didn't do.
"I've never taken a penny from a charity, and they know it," he continued. "I've always paid my taxes, and they know it. I think it's personal at this point."
But U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente parried: "It's not about personality. This is about evidence." Corrente says Hatch had two separate accountants prepare his tax returns, first with and then without the $1 million, and ultimately submitted the latter return, in which he claimed a $4,500 refund.
In March, Hatch popped up on the Today Show and said his contract with CBS stipulated that it was the network's responsibility to deduct taxes from his winning, which CBS flatly denied.
Judge Lincoln Almond allowed Hatch to remain free on a $50,000 bond, but he was ordered to turn in his passport and barred from leaving Rhode Island, save trips to Houston to meet with his Texas-based attorneys and any work-related functions in New York and Los Angeles, for which he must obtain permission.
Hatch, who currently appears on Bravo's Battle of the Network Reality Stars, which debuted last month, could face a maximum of 75 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines if convicted on all counts.
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