Prosecutors: Black doesn't deserve bail

Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International Inc. chairman imprisoned for his role in the theft of $6.1 million from the company, shouldn't be freed on bail while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews his case, prosecutors argued.

"Independent of the fraud convictions now pending before the Supreme Court, defendant Black was convicted of a serious offense: a brazen obstruction of justice caught on videotape," prosecutors today said in court papers submitted to U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve in Chicago.

Black asked St. Eve for bail last month after the high court agreed to review his 2007 mail fraud conviction. He and three other men were found guilty of stealing from the Chicago newspaper publisher now known as Sun-Times Media Group Inc.

Black alone was found guilty of obstructing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation. St. Eve sentenced him to five years in prison for fraud and 6 1/2 years for obstruction. She will hear arguments July 24 on the bail request, according to the court's Web site.

Evidence in the obstruction case included video of Black carrying boxes from his office in Toronto to his car. Prosecutors said they contained documents sought by the SEC.

Since March 3, 2008, Black has been in the low-security federal prison at Coleman, Florida. His term is to expire Oct. 30, 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Web site.

Black's lead appellate attorney, Miguel Estrada of Los Angeles-based Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

The high court will hear the case during its 2009-10 term, which starts in October.

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