Survivor’s Richard Hatch Leaves Prison
Survivor champ Richard Hatch has been released from federal prison after spending four years behind bars for tax evasion.
The 48-year-old Hatch — who was convicted in January 2006 of failing to pay taxes on the $1 million prize he won on the first season of the CBS reality show — left a federal prison in West Virginia on Monday. He was released early due to good behavior.
He will reside in a halfway house in Pennsylvania until Oct. 7, said Carla Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Northeast Regional office of the Bureau of Prisons.
Hatch — best known as “the fat, naked guy” on Survivor — has maintained his innocence all along, claiming that he thought the show’s producers would handle his taxes and that he was ignorant about money matters. (CBS has denied Hatch’s claims.)
He appeared upbeat when he was sentenced to 51 months behind bars in 2006. He shook hands with his lawyers and greeted family members, yelling out, “See you later, Mom.”
