Conrad Black loses bid for bail during Supreme Court review

Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International Inc. chairman jailed for his role in the theft of $6.1 million from the company, lost a bid for bail while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews his conviction.

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve of Chicago, who presided over Black's 2007 trial and later imposed his 6 1/2-year prison term, denied the request for freedom in a ruling posted on the court's electronic docket yesterday.

Black was convicted on three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstructing justice. The high court in May agreed to hear Black's challenge to instructions St. Eve gave the trial court jury on whether it could interpret mail fraud to punish Black for allegedly depriving the company and its shareholders of their entitlement to his honest services.

"Black has failed to establish that a ruling in his favor on the issues before the Supreme Court is likely to result in a reversal of his obstruction of justice conviction," St. Eve said.

In December 2007, the judge sentenced Black to five years imprisonment on the fraud counts and 6 1/2 years on his conviction for removing from his Toronto office boxes that prosecutors said contained documents sought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which was investigating him.

Florida Prison

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

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on June 11 rejected a bail request from Black, ruling that he was free to re-apply to the trial court. The high court is expected to hear argument on the case during its next term, which begins in October.

Black's chief appellate counsel, Miguel Estrada, didn't immediately reply to e-mail seeking comment after regular business hours yesterday. He is a partner in the Washington office of Los Angeles-based Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Jeffrey Cramer, a prosecutor with the office of Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald who worked on Black's trial, declined to comment.

Chicago-based Hollinger International, now known as the Sun-Times Media Group Inc., is the publisher of its namesake Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.

The case is U.S. v. Black, 05cr727, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago). The appeal is Black v. U.S, 08-876, U.S. Supreme Court (Washington).