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Donald Trump May Try to Get Richard Hatch Freed Early

By Jeralyn

Richard Hatch, who won a million dollars on Survivor and then went to jail for three years for failing to pay taxes on it, is back in prison. The judge last week revoked his supervised release because he still hasn't amended his returns and made payments. The judge imposed a new 9 month sentence.

Hatch is now a contestant on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice. The show just aired the second episode, but wrapped up filming a while ago. He surrendered yesterday to the U.S. Marshals to start serving his new sentence.

Now along comes Donald Trump and says he may be willing to help Hatch. Does Trump really think if he pays Hatch's tax debt the judge or Bureau of Prisons will let him out of jail?

Trump says, "If he makes it to the finals – and I'm not saying he is – I'm sure we can get him time off for good behavior."

[More...]

There is no good time on a 9 month sentence. Federal good time doesn't kick in until after you've done a year.

And this wasn't a close case for the judge. Hatch faced between three and nine months on the violation. The Government asked for six months and the Judge imposed nine, telling Hatch:

“This isn’t a complicated matter as much as you tried to complicate it,” the judge said. “As far as I can tell, you’ve made no effort to put any money into the government’s coffers.”

... the judge called Hatch’s non-compliance with his original sentence “very serious” and said that delays in his settling with the IRS are “just an effort to avoid the cold hard reality that the jury convicted you of not paying taxes.”

Donald Trump is reportedly considering a bid for the Republican nomination for President. Can he really be that clueless to think he can buy Hatch's way out of prison? And could he get any more opportunistic than to say he'd consider paying Hatch's tax debt if Hatch makes it to the finals on Celebrity Apprentice? Meaning if Hatch goes earlier, it's ok to leave him under the bus because ratings won't be affected?

Trump's sister is a federal appeals court judge in New Jersey. You'd think he'd know better. It's a little scary that he doesn't, considering his new political aspirations.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 15, 2011 (boomark / email).