Sources: Joran van der Sloot Seeking $1 Million TV Deal

From prison, murder suspect Joran van der Sloot shops for interview deal.

ByABC News via logo
June 22, 2010, 7:58 AM

July 1, 2010— -- Joran van der Sloot may be behind bars in an infamous Peruvian jail on murder charges, but that didn't stop the 22-year-old gambler from trying to strike it rich yet again – this time through a potentially lucrative television deal.

According to sources within the Castro Castro prison where van der Sloot has been held since his early June arrest for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez, the Dutchman has attempted to sell an on-camera interview for $1 million. No deal has been made so far, the sources said.

Though he's in prison, a $1 million payout could still be extremely valuable, former FBI agent and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said.

"It gives him more power in prison, his ability to buy things, his ability to manipulate other inmates to get whatever he wants – being a taker," Garrett told "Good Morning America" today.

News of the sought-after television deal comes a day after a U.S. federal grand jury handed down an official indictment of van der Sloot in another money-making scheme in which he allegedly attempted to sell details of Natalee Holloway's death to the girl's grieving mother.

The indictment, filed Wednesday in Alabama, claims that on March 29 van der Sloot, who was suspected in Holloway's 2005 disappearance, contacted John Q. Kelly, the attorney for Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, and told him that he knew the whereabouts of Holloway's remains in Aruba.

The Dutchman "would show Mr. Kelly the specific location of Natalee Holloway's remains ... and provide specific details concerning the manner of her death," for $250,000 the indictment said.

The plot was apparently reported to authorities who attempted to use the deal against van der Sloot. Through her attorney, Twitty gave van der Sloot $10,000 in cash and wired another $15,000 to his bank account in the Netherlands May 10.

Once Holloway's body was positively identified, van der Sloot wanted an additional $225,000 within 30 days, according to the indictment.