Black seeks bail during court review

Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International Inc. chairman serving a 6½-year prison term for stealing from the company, asked the judge who sentenced him for bail while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews his conviction.

Black's lawyers, in papers filed today with U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve in Chicago, said the U.S. 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 3, 2008. His term is presently set to expire Oct. 30, 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Web site.

Randall Samborn, a spokesman for Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, whose office brought the case against Black and the three other men, declined to comment on today's request. A deadline hasn't been set for prosecutors' reply.

Hollinger International, now known as Sun-Times Media Group Inc., 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 Post and the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph.

2007 Convictions

St. Eve presided over the four-month long jury trial that ended in July 2007 with the convictions of Black and the other former Hollinger executives for their roles in the theft of $6.1 million from the Chicago-based company.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on June 11 rejected a bail request from Black, ruling that he was free to reapply to the trial court.

St. Eve last month granted a similar request to co- defendant John Boultbee, agreeing with the defense that Boultbee could otherwise serve his entire 2 1/4-year sentence before the high court rules on the defendants' appeal.

The case is Black v. United States, 08-876, U.S. Supreme Court (Washington).