It's not a show, but it is reality for
Richard Hatch.
It's Survivor: Oklahoma.
For the first time since he was sentenced to
51 months in prison for evading taxes on his $1-million
Survivor jackpot and other income, Hatch, 45, has been moved
to a federal facility. He arrived several days ago at the
Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, having been held at
the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, in Massachusetts,
since his conviction in May.
Michael Minns, Hatch's Texas lawyer, said
yesterday that it was unclear whether Hatch will serve out his
sentence at the Oklahoma prison. The facility is a hub for
transferring prisoners throughout the federal system, but it
also houses a permanent population of inmates, according to a
spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Hatch's projected
release date is Oct. 7, 2009.
"He'd like to either be near family in
Rhode Island or family in Florida. His mother goes there
frequently," he said. "I would think that if that is
where he is staying they would tell us." But, he said,
"They wouldn't even tell us when he was en route to
Oklahoma."
Minns said that his office had been working
on Hatch's behalf for an appropriate prison site for his
client and to get him out of the relatively more secure
Massachusetts facility where the Newport man has been held
since his conviction in May. The judge considered Hatch a
flight risk and ordered him held without bail until his
sentencing.
"We have sent several letters trying to
get him moved to wherever he was going to get assigned,"
said Minns. "He should be in a camp. The camps are the
most comfortable of the uncomfortable. They are still jails,
but they get to see the sky and be outside. It's bad for
Richard, who is an outdoor person."
Hatch proved his affinity for the outdoors
in the first season of the reality show when he outwitted and
outlasted other contestants in a survival contest on an island
off Borneo, in Malaysia. He won the CBS program's $1-million
jackpot in 2000. But he was convicted of tax evasion and
filing a false income-tax return, both of which related to his
show winnings and earnings he gained through his Survivor
fame.
Minns filed a notice of appeal immediately
following the trial and said he has been preparing the case.
He said he speaks periodically with Hatch, who was placed in
protective custody at Plymouth. Hatch is openly gay and
competed in the nude on the seminal reality TV show.
Despite being held at Plymouth longer than
any other federal prison in custody, "He's holding up
amazingly well," said Minns. "He sounds a lot better
than most."
