A federal judge says convicted media executive Conrad Black can remain free on bond while he awaits sentencing at the end of November. Black was convicted last week of mail fraud and obstruction of justice. He used to run Hollinger International, which owned the Chicago Sun-Times and hundreds of other newspapers. Chicago Public Radio’s Diantha Parker reports.
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U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve said Black has to stay in either the Chicago area or in Florida, where he has a home. He’s forbidden to travel to his native Canada or anywhere else outside the US.
Prosecutors had argued that Black should go to prison to await sentencing. They said he was a flight risk. If Black were to leave the country, he’d have a right to fight extradition. He signed an agreement to waive that right. But government attorneys said they couldn’t enforce it.
The jury in Black’s three-month trial found him and three of his former executives guilty of illegally pocketing money that should have gone to shareholders. Prosecutors say he could face up to 30 years in prison, but defense attorneys say it won’t be that long.
I’m Diantha Parker, Chicago Public Radio.