Chicago: Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International chairman and chief executive officer, must spend another year in prison after being resentenced for mail fraud and obstructing justice, the surviving convictions from his 2007 trial.
A new sentence of three and a half years was imposed on Friday by US District Judge Amy J. St Eve in Chicago. Black will get credit for 29 months already served, a Justice Department spokesman, Randall Samborn, said after the hearing.
"I have always tried to take success like a gentleman and disappointment like a man," Black told St Eve before she imposed the sentence.
"I accept that a reasonable person could conclude that I am guilty," he said, adding he also believed the same reasonable person could conclude he had been "adequately punished".
This was the second time Black, 66, faced punishment at the federal courthouse since being convicted for his role in the theft of $6.1 million (Dh22.4 million) from the Chicago-based newspaper publishing company now known as the Sun-Times Media Group. His wife, Barbara Amiel, appeared to faint when the sentence was passed and was helped from the courtroom. The couple left together later. No date was set for Black to report to prison. He may face deportation following his prison term.
Previous sentence
St Eve sentenced Black to 78 months in prison in December 2007. He served from March 2008 to July 2010 before being freed on bail while pursuing appeals. An appellate court last year threw out two of three mail fraud convictions after the Supreme Court told it to consider whether they conformed to a recent high court decision.
The Supreme Court last month declined to consider Black's challenge to the appellate ruling that let stand the final two convictions.
Prosecutors had asked the judge to reinstate the original 78-month term, arguing that his obstruction conviction, which stemmed from his unlawful removal of documents sought by the US government from his Toronto office, remained undisturbed throughout the appellate process.
