Survivor Winner Richard Hatch Reneges on Plea Deal with IRS

We previously noted (here) that Richard Hatch, the winner of the first CBS Survivor reality show, agreed in January to plead guilty to two counts of income tax evasion for failing to report:

• $1,000,000 he received in 2000 for winning the show (along with a $10,000 payment he received for appearing on the final episode)
• $320,000 he received for working on a Boston radio station in 2001

Tax Analysts reports this morning (also available on the Tax Analysts web site as Doc 2005-4462, 2005 TNT 43-5) that Hatch has reneged on the plea agreement:

Could it be a ploy by Survivor winner Richard Hatch to outwit his new opponent, the IRS?

Hatch has reneged on a plea agreement for allegedly failing to declare his $1 million winnings from the inaugural season of CBS's hit reality television series, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Rhode Island said last week....

It was thought that Hatch had agreed to plead guilty to filing false personal and corporate income tax returns for 2001 and for not reporting payments made to Hatch's corporation, Tri-Whale Enterprises, from the owner of the radio station on which he appeared. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to recommend imprisonment "at the lowest point of the range" of a reduced offense level under the federal sentencing guidelines.

But now that deal appears to be dead. Tax Analysts has learned that the government plans to present Hatch's case before a grand jury.

For more details, see that noted tax authority E!.  For a copy of the criminal information filed January in federal district court in Rhode Island, see here.