Inside these posts: Conrad Black

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Conrad Black to be resentenced in June for fraud

Conrad Black, the wealthy Canadian native who was chairman of a Chicago-based newspaper empire, will be resentenced in June on two counts that survived an appellate court’s review of his 2007 fraud conviction, a federal judge decided today.

Hearing set in Conrad Black’s bid to remain free

Conrad Black enters a Chicago court room in 2007. (Tribune file)

Will former media mogul Conrad Black eventually head back to prison? Or will the flamboyant, 66-year-old’s long-running legal saga end with a judge setting him free for good? A status hearing Thursday in Chicago isn’t likely to answer those questions definitively, though it could provide clues about what U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve is inclined to do.

Two years into a 6 1/2-year sentence, Black was released last year from a Florida prison while he appealed his conviction for defrauding Hollinger International Inc. investors. Black, whose media empire once included the Chicago Sun-Times, The Daily Telegraph of London and community papers in the U.S. and Canada, was expected to attend Thursday’s hearing. Get the full story »

Black loses appeal on remaining convictions

Conrad Black has lost an appeal of his remaining convictions on fraud and obstruction of justice.

The federal appeals court in Chicago said Friday that it has rejected a request by the former media tycoon for a full-court review of his case.
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Canadian court to hear appeal in Conrad Black libel suit

The Supreme Court of Canada will hear an appeal by ex-business associates of Conrad Black who argue Canadian courts are not the proper forum for the former media mogul to pursue libel suits against them. Get the full story »

Black’s freedom next question with 2 convictions upheld

Conrad Black, the wealthy Canadian who was chairman of a Chicago-based newspaper empire, may be headed back to prison after two of his crimes were upheld on appeal.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago reviewed Black’s 2007 fraud conviction for a second time, after the  Supreme Court called it into question in June. In a unanimous ruling Friday, the appellate court affirmed Black’s guilty verdicts on one count of defrauding Hollinger International Inc. and obstruction of justice but vacated two of his fraud convictions. Get the full story »

Black’s lawyer urges court to throw out conviction

Conrad Black and wife Barbara Amiel in July of 2010, leaving the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

Bloomberg News | Conrad Black’s 2007 convictions for fraud and obstructing justice should be thrown out because it’s impossible to tell whether jurors found him guilty under a now-invalid legal theory, his lawyer told a federal appeals court.

A three-judge panel in Chicago is hearing Black’s case today for the second time following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that narrowed the scope of the so-called honest services fraud statute, the law used to prosecute the former Hollinger International Inc. chairman.

“None of the fraud or obstruction convictions can survive examination of the trial record,” Black’s appellate lawyer, Miguel Estrada, told the judges during oral arguments. Prosecutors, in court filings, said there’s ample evidence to support Black’s conviction on other grounds. Get the full story »

Conrad Black’s attorneys in appeals court today

From Canada’s National Post | Attorney’s for former Sun-Times publisher and media mogul Conrad Black will appear in Chicago’s 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to argue that Black’s fraud convictions should be tossed. Black was released from prison after serving two years of a 6.5-year sentence for breaking the so-called “honest services” law.
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Conrad Black, U.S. clash over ‘07 conviction

After the U.S. Supreme Court eviscerated one of the fraud laws used to convict former media baron Conrad Black, federal prosecutors have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the trial error was harmless.

Lawyers for Black say the burden is impossible to meet and that a federal appeals court should toss out his conviction. Black was recently freed from prison after the Supreme Court in June ordered a review of his case because of flawed jury instructions.

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Judge won’t allow Black to return to Canada

Conrad Black enters the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Friday. (Terrence Antonio James/ Chicago Tribune)

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve said she would not allow Conrad Black, who once controlled a media company that owned the Chicago Sun-Times, to return to his home in Canada until she has more information about his financial condition. She asked to return Aug. 16 with a complete and thorough financial affadavit.

Black arrived  in St. Eve’s Chicago courtroom for a 12:30 p.m. hearing to learn the conditions of his recent release from prison. He wore a blue suit and salmon-colored tie, and was accompanied by his wife Barbara Amiel Black. He didn’t say anything, but smiled and gave a thumbs up.

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Conrad Black posts bond, leaves prison

Conrad Black left a Florida prison Wednesday, after a Chicago federal judge ordered his release on a $2 million bond pending a review of his 2007 fraud conviction.

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ordered Black, who once controlled a media company that owned the Chicago Sun-Times, to appear in her courtroom at 12:30 p.m. Friday, to go over the conditions of his release. Get the full story »

Conrad Black to be freed on bond

Conrad Black leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse after his sentencing hearing in Chicago in this December 10, 2007 file photo. (Reuters/John Gress/Files)

Conrad Black won his request for bail Monday while a federal appeals court reviews whether to overturn his 2007 fraud conviction related to his one-time control of Hollinger International Inc., the former parent of the Chicago Sun-Times.

It is not clear when Black will be released from prison. He has been in federal custody in Florida for more than two years, serving a 78-month sentence for three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice. Get the full story »

IRS sends Conrad Black $71M tax bill

From the National Post of Canada | The Internal Revenue Service has sent imprisoned newspaper baron Conrad Black a bill for $71-million in unpaid taxes and penalties for income between 1998 and 2003, court records show. Black, who previously headed the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers, is serving a 6.5 year sentence at a federal prison in Florida for fraud. He , has asked the U.S. Tax Court to throw out the assessment, which seeks payment for the years 1998 to 2003.

Conrad Black asks appeals court for bail

Former newspaper magnate Conrad Black is seeking bail now that the U.S. Supreme Court has kicked his 2007 fraud conviction back to a lower court.

Black’s lawyers filed the motion Tuesday in Chicago. That follows a Supreme Court ruling last month weakening the “honest services” law central to his fraud conviction. Get the full story »