HOLLYWOOD—Former producer Joseph Medawar, who was sentenced to just a year and a day in prison and community service in May 2006 for federal tax evasion and conspiracy in connection to a fake reality TV show, received a new sentence of 45 months in prison on Tuesday, January 18.
Medawar took $3.4 million from investors in the scam. The proposed show was said to be centered around the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. His initial sentence—in which he was reported to have fulfilled his community service hours by watching films, going to the gym and working a paid job at a family jewelery business—was loudly panned by the victims of his fraudulent scheme. Furthermore, a unanimous panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his prison sentence in 2008, reducing it to supervised probation.
When Medawar was brought back to court for probation violations, his attorney Darryl Snider requested that U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real let Medawar continue to work and pay back his former investors. Despite this and a statement by Medawar himself apologizing for his actions to both his victims and the court, Real ordered the new sentence, calling Medawar a “scam performer” who defrauded both his investors and the court.
of the $2.6 million that Medawar was originally ordered to pay back to investors in restitution, Snider reported that he has given back about $21,000 so far.
The new sentence will not be subject to reductions by counting the 317 days he spent in pretrial custody or in his previous sentence. He will need to start his sentence by February 14.
Medawar’s reality TV show was said to star actress Alison Heruth-Waterbury. In his May 2006 conviction, it was reported that he used investors money on lavish dinners, cars and an expensive monthly stay at a Beverly Hills mansion for Heruth-Waterbury.
