Hatch Agrees to Plead Guilty to Tax Evasion

By Stephen M. Silverman

Originally posted Tuesday January 18, 2005 02:00 PM EST

Richard Hatch Photo by: Nancy Kaszerman / Zuma

Perhaps original Survivor winner Richard Hatch thought nobody would notice his $1 million win on the highly-rated reality show, but the Internal Revenue Service slapped the nudity buff with two felony tax-evasion counts — and he has agreed to plead guilty, according to the Associated Press

Hatch is charged with allegedly failing to report his seven-figure TV windfall on his 2000 tax return and of falsifying his return in 2001, according to Rhode Island U.S. District Court documents uncovered by the Smoking Gun.

"On or about November 19, 2000," state the documents in the criminal case of United States of America v. Richard Hatch, the defendant "signed and caused to be filed with the IRS a false 2000 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040 (that) did not include the $1,010,000 in taxable income that (he) received from Survivor Entertainment Group." (The extra $10,000 was for his appearance on the show’s finale, the IRS claims.)

The charges against Hatch were announced Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney's office. The details of the plea agreement appeared in court documents, which were signed by Hatch on Jan. 6 and filed Tuesday, the AP reports. However the agreement is not binding, and Hatch could still choose to plead innocent and proceed to trial.

Hatch, 43, is also charged with failing to report over $300,000 in income he earned as co-host of a Boston radio show.

For being what the court document calls "in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7201," Hatch, reportedly faces the possibility of a combined maximum of 10 years in prison for both counts and a $250,000 fine, but the U.S. Attorney's office said it would recommend a lesser sentence.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 24. There has been no comment from Hatch.