Richard Hatch claims 'witch hunt'

CAPE COD, Mass. (AP/WPRI) - Local 'Survivor' winner Richard Hatch says he has been the victim of a "witch hunt" by federal prosecutors, but the sheriff who oversaw him says he is lying.

Hatch told to NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that sheriff's deputies took him away in his boxer shorts in August, after he granted unauthorized media interviews while serving the remainder of his federal tax evasion sentence on home confinement at his sister's Newport home.

Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings says Hatch refused to get dressed. Hatch, who lives in Rhode Island, was known for walking around naked on the CBS reality show.

Hatch described his recent sentence as "the worst time of my life in prison." He also complained of serving solitary confinement in a filthy cell.

Cummings says Hatch was not in solitary confinement, and that Hatch himself inspected the cell to make sure it was clean before he stayed in it.

Cummings calls Hatch "a stranger to the truth."

In 2006, Hatch was convicted of failing to pay taxes on the $1 million prize he won on the CBS reality show in 2000. 

He is now free and looking for a job.