JURIST - Paper Chase: Conrad Black sentenced to prison, ordered to pay $1 million

[JURIST] Canadian-born financier and former media mogul Conrad Black [CBC profile; JURIST news archive] was sentenced in a US federal court in Chicago Monday to 78 months in prison and ordered to pay $125,000 and forfeit another $1 million for his July conviction [JURIST report] on mail fraud and obstruction of justice charges. Former Hollinger executives and Black co-defendants John Boultbee, Peter Atkinson and Mark Kipnis, who were also convicted of fraud at trial [docket; USAO materials], received the same sentence Monday. US District Judge Amy St. Eve [official profile] of the Northern District of Illinois [official website] released Black on bail with orders to report to prison on March 3.

Originally accused [indictment, PDF] by the US government of diverting more than $80 million from Hollinger International and its shareholders [JURIST report] during the company's $2.1 billion sale of several hundred Canadian newspapers, Black was found not guilty in July on separate charges of racketeering, wire fraud, and tax evasion. In August, Black and his three co-defendants filed concurrent motions [JURIST report] requesting either new trials or acquittals after their July convictions. Last month, St. Eve rejected the motions [ruling, PDF; JURIST report], overturning one of Kipnis' mail fraud convictions while affirming all of the other convictions against the four. AP has more. The Globe and Mail has additional coverage.

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