Rhode Island judge denies Richard Hatch $25 IRS payment bid

Television reality star Richard Hatch talks during an interview in a coffee shop in Newport, R.I., Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011. Hatch was released from a state prison Monday after serving a nine-month sentence for failing to pay back taxes. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A request by reality television star Richard Hatch to give the Internal Revenue Service a reduced payment of $25 for January in his tax evasion case has been denied by a Rhode Island judge.

Court records show the federal judge rejected the request Tuesday.

Hatch won the first season of CBS' "Survivor." He served a nine-month sentence for failing to pay back taxes.

He was ordered to pay 25 percent of his gross income to the IRS as part of his sentence for violating terms of his supervised release. He sought the reduced payment, saying he'd earned only $500 since being freed in December.

Public defender Mary McElroy says Hatch's accountant and agent take 20 percent of his income and he's saving for an apartment. She says he's relying on others for housing and basic necessities.