The sister of “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch said Wednesday she thinks her brother was sent back to jail over an interview, and a radio station host said Hatch called in to his show twice without the station first getting permission from the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Hatch, who had been serving out the remainder of his prison term for tax evasion on home confinement in Newport, was taken into custody and jailed Tuesday, just hours after interviews aired on WPRO-AM, NBC’s “Today” show and WJAR-TV. In those interviews, Hatch said the judge in his tax evasion case discriminated against him because he was gay. He also accused the prosecutor of misconduct.
Hatch’s sister told NBC’s “Today” show on Wednesday that when a sheriff’s deputy came to bring her brother to the Barnstable County Jail in Massachusetts on Tuesday, she overheard him say that Hatch was being jailed because “he did an interview.”
The federal Bureau of Prisons would not comment on Hatch’s case. But spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said prisoners on home confinment cannot grant interviews without first getting permission. She said approval typically takes a few days and is sought by and granted to the media outlet.
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