THE PLOT THICKENS US Court OKs Part Of Conrad Black's Conviction, Orders Resentencing 10/29 01:09 PM
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A federal appeals court on Friday upheld parts of former media mogul Conrad Black's fraud conviction, which was called into question by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.
Last June, the high court revived Black's legal challenge by narrowing the reach of a federal law that gave prosecutors the authority to bring cases against executives who deprive companies of their honest services. The justices ordered the lower courts to take another look at Black's conviction.
But on Friday, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a jury would have convicted Black anyway on some counts.
The appeals court affirmed Black's conviction on one fraud count and an obstruction of justice charge.
The court said the Supreme Court ruling required that another part of Black's conviction be reversed. Prosecutors have the option to retry Black on that charge, the court said, but it suggested that the government consider not doing so. It sent the case back to a trial judge for resentencing.
Prosecutors had alleged that Black, the former chairman of Hollinger International Inc., and other executives supported lavish lifestyles by siphoning off millions from the company through bogus management fees and noncompetition agreements as Hollinger sold off many of its smaller newspapers.
Black was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison. He had served more than two years of his jail term but was freed on bail in July after the Supreme Court ruling.
Black and the other executives said they didn't steal from the company, but instead sought to structure certain management fees in a way that the payments they received would not be taxable.
Black's lawyer, Miguel Estrada, said the entire conviction should have been thrown out in light of the Supreme Court ruling. "We are reviewing the court's opinion carefully, and in the coming weeks we will be considering our next steps," Estrada said in a statement.
The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago said it was pleased with the ruling and would announce its further intentions at the appropriate time.
Black built Hollinger into what once was the world's third-largest newspaper company. At one time, it operated more than 300 newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph in London, the Jerusalem Post in Israel, the Chicago Sun-Times and Canada'sNational Post.
The company is now much smaller and operates under the name Sun-Times Media Group Inc. (SUTMQ:$0.0014,$0.0000,0.00%) .
-By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9222; brent.kendall@ dowjones.com -0-
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10-29-101509ET
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