Interesting. It kinda sounds to me like Hatch tried to avoid paying taxes...period!
Why else would a person be sentenced to jail, right? Let's say he made an honest mistake and neglected to report his winnings.
The IRS would then say "OK, Mr. Hatch. You owe us $xxxxxxx amount of dollars. That includes penalties and interest".
You'd think Hatch would say "Jeez, I screwed up big! I'll settle with you now in order to avoid future problems".
Opinions or comments - anyone?
Court ruling on Richard Hatch from www.thesmokinggun.com
I'm normally not sympathetic to the IRS, but the case is extremely clear. He basically did not file two legitimately done tax returns, and DID file one based on him not winning the dough, which the accountant would not sign. He also pretended that a private corp. he owned was a charity.
I want to know what this guy did with the money. Did it all go up his nose?!