Black Sentence Could Be Just 5 Years

Report doesn't back the 24-30 years feds want in media baron fraud
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 28, 2007 1:44 PM CST
Black Sentence Could Be Just 5 Years
Conrad Black, former head of the Hollinger International Inc. newspaper empire, leaves federal court Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007 in Chicago.   (Associated Press)

A confidential report prepared for the judge in the Conrad Black trial suggests that the disgraced media baron might receive a jail sentence far shorter than the 24-30 years prosecutors are seeking. The pre-sentencing report gives a much lower estimate for the scale of Black's fraud—$6.1 million, not the prosecution's $32.15 million—and recommends about five years behind bars.

The discrepancy for how much money Black obtained via fraudulent means, reports the Times of London, stems from the mixed verdict against the tycoon, who was convicted in July on only three of six charges. The prosecution has filed an objection to the pre-sentencing report, which the judge will consider when sentencing Black—whose properties included the Chicago Sun-Times—on Dec. 10. (More Chicago Sun Times stories.)

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