Conrad Black. AP
CHICAGO – A judge on Friday ordered fallen media baron Conrad Black back to a US prison for another 13 months on charges of fraud and obstruction of justice while at the helm of his once vast newspaper empire.
Black’s lawyers had made an impassioned plea to Judge Amy St. Eve for him to be sentenced to just the 29 months he has already served in jail, arguing that he had already suffered enough.
The once flamboyant media mogul – who had counted politicians and pop stars among his entourage – was more stoic as he defended his reputation in a lengthily oration that he concluded with a partial recitation of the Rudyard Kipling poem “If.”
Black, 66, blasted the “corporate governance zealots” he blames for the collapse of Hollinger – for which he took a $250 million stock equity hit – and prosecutors for refusing to concede after Black evaded conviction on 13 of 17 counts and had two more overturned at appeal.
He bemoaned the fact that he has spent the last decade defending himself against a crime that was initially alleged to be a $500 million dollar “corporate kleptocracy” and ended with his conviction for what he said amounts to the “improper receipt of $285,000.”
“I never ask for mercy. I seek no one’s sympathy,” Black told St. Eve. “I do ask for the avoidance of injustice which now lies exclusively in your hands.”
Black was released on a $2 million bond nearly a year ago after the US Supreme Court tossed out the “honest services” law that had formed the basis of his 2007 fraud conviction to which he was sentenced to 78 months.
But after a series of appeals, Black was only able to succeed in getting two of the four counts he was convicted of tossed out.
Black and his associates were originally charged with skimming off some $60 million from his global newspaper empire between 1999 and 2001.
They were ultimately convicted of stealing $6.1 million by awarding themselves tax-free bonuses from the newspaper sell-offs without the approval of the board of the Hollinger holding company.
That figure was reduced to $600,000 after the two fraud counts were thrown out in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
St. Eve on Friday sentenced Black to 42 months in jail for the remaining two counts, but he will get credit for the 29 months already served. He has also made restitution payments of $30 million.
The judge told Black she was impressed by the testimonials she had received from inmates and prison staff about his work as a tutor and mentor and was also taking into account his age.
However, she said a significant sentence was necessary to serve as a warning to other corporate executives.
“It is a very serious crime,” she noted. “I still scratch my head as to why you engaged in this conduct.”
It was not immediately clear how three months credit for good behavior would be factored into Black’s remaining term.
The judge ruled he would be released on bond for at least six weeks while the bureau of prisons determined which jail he would be sent to.
As the sentence was delivered Black showed little emotion, but his wife, Barbara, collapsed to the floor and was quietly helped from the courtroom.
Black held her arm protectively as he they left the courthouse and stepped into a waiting car, ignoring the questions of scores of journalists.
Prosecutors, who had urged St. Eve to send Black back to prison for his original 78-month sentence, said they were satisfied with the decision.
“This court sentence sends a very strong message to corporate executives that it will not be tolerated when corporate executives steal from shareholders,” assistant US attorney Julie Porter told reporters.
Asked what she thought of Black’s accusations of prosecutorial overreach, Porter said the government “stands by the allegations we’ve made” and added they “did not hear much contrition or acceptance of responsibility.”
Black once ran the world’s third largest media empire with such titles as Britain’s Daily Telegraph and the Chicago Sun-Times.
He gave up his Canadian citizenship in order to become a British lord, but has been trying to have it reinstated so he can return to Canada.