RI radio station host: Didn’t get OK to interview ‘Survivor’ winner jailed after call-in

Radio station: No OK for ‘Survivor’ winner call-in

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch’s sister said Wednesday that she thinks her brother was sent back to jail for giving an interview, and a radio station said Hatch called in twice without the station first getting the required permission from the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Hatch had been serving out the remainder of his prison term for tax evasion on home confinement in Newport. He was taken into custody and jailed Tuesday afternoon, just hours after interviews aired on WPRO-AM, NBC’s “Today” show and a WJAR-TV newscast. In the interviews, Hatch accused the prosecutor of misconduct and said the judge in the case discriminated against him because he was gay.

Hatch’s sister told “Today” on Wednesday that she heard a sheriff’s deputy who came to bring her brother to the Barnstable County Jail in Massachusetts say that Hatch was being jailed because “he did an interview.”

The Bureau of Prisons would not comment on Hatch’s case, but spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said prisoners on home confinement 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.

WPRO host John DePetro said the radio station didn’t get such permission because Hatch twice called in on his own. DePetro said Hatch was angry about comments made on the show by former U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, who oversaw Hatch’s prosecution. Corrente had called Hatch “delusional.”

“When he heard the Corrente interview, that’s what set him off,” DePetro said. “He was hot when he called in.”

“Today” show host Matt Lauer said on the show Wednesday that he had permission for his interview. Chris Lanni, content brand manager for WJAR-TV, the local NBC affiliate, said the station did not deal with the Bureau of Prisons, but arranged their interview through NBC Universal.

“We asked Hatch if he had permission, and he did,” Lanni said.

A fourth interview — with “Access Hollywood,” which is owned by NBC — aired after he was taken into custody.

It was unclear if NBC secured permission for all three TV interviews Hatch conducted. A spokeswoman for the “Today” show did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment.

Hatch’s lawyer and sister did not return messages left by The Associated Press on Wednesday morning.

Hatch was convicted in 2006 of failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he was awarded for winning the first season of the CBS reality show. He was given extra prison time for lying on the stand.

His term is scheduled to end on Oct. 7.

Billingsley said prisoners who are jailed after breaking the rules of home confinement could be moved back to a prison, to a halfway house or returned to home confinement after a hearing with a disciplinary officer.