Survivor champ "Richard Hatch" appeals sentence

Persistence helped Richard Hatch win the first season of Survivor, and he's hoping that same tenacity will get him out of jail. Lawyers for the Rhode Island nudist were in court yesterday (March 8th) to appeal the tax fraud convictions that landed him in prison for more than four years last year.

Hatch's defense contends that he deserves a new trial because he was never allowed to take the stand to explain why he thought he didn't have to worry about paying taxes on his million-dollar Survivor prize. Instead, lawyers say, jurors only heard half the story and "couldn't accept" his story about his actions. Hatch says Survivor producers promised to take care of his taxes if he didn't go public with allegations of cheating amongst contestants.

Hatch was convicted of three tax crimes in January 2006 which stemmed from his failure to report his million-dollar prize from the show and other income with the IRS. He was found innocent of seven other charges, including a bank fraud charge that would have significantly increased his jail time.
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