Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International chairman serving a 6 1/2- year prison term for stealing from the company, asked the judge who sentenced him for bail while the US Supreme Court reviews his conviction.
Black’s lawyers, in papers filed today with US District Judge Amy St Eve in Chicago, said the US Supreme Court’s May decision to hear a challenge to his 2007 conviction for mail fraud indicates there is a “substantial question” concerning his guilt, raising the possibility of a new trial or reduced prison term.
“When the Supreme Court decides this case, Mr. Black will be nearly 66 years old and - without bail pending appeal - will have served 32 months of his sentence,” his lawyers said in the filing.
The high court will hear the case during its 2009-10 term which starts in October. Black has been jailed at a low-security federal prison in Coleman, Florida since March 3rd, 2008.
His term is presently set to expire October 30th, 2013, according to the US Bureau of Prisons Web site.
Randall Samborn, a spokesman for Chicago US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, whose office brought the case against Black and three other men, declined to comment on today’s request.
Hollinger International, now known as Sun-Times Media Group, became the world’s third-largest publisher of English- language newspapers under Black.
Its publications included the Chicago Sun-Times, Canada's National Post, the Jerusalem Postand the Daily Telegraph.
Bloomberg