Former media tycoon Conrad Black sent back to prison over fraud and obstruction charges

Former media tycoon Conrad Black sent back to prison over fraud and obstruction charges

2011-06-25 06:46:02 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (BNO NEWS) -- Former media tycoon Conrad Black on Friday was sent back to prison over pending fraud and obstruction of justice counts, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Black, 66, was sentenced to 42 months in prison on his remaining guilty verdicts of defrauding Hollinger International Inc. and obstructing justice by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

Black is likely to spend only 13 months in prison of his sentence as he had previously spent 29 months imprisoned. The defendant was once the owner of a media empire that included the British Daily Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers in U.S. and Canada.

In 2007, he was sentenced to six and a half years of imprisonment after being convicted of three counts of fraud in relation to the theft of $6.1million from Hollinger, the parent company of the Sun-Times.

He was charged along three other Hollinger executives. Black appealed the verdict to the Supreme Court which last year directed the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago to take another look at his case.

The former tycoon was released on bail in July 2010 the Supreme Court found ruled an anti-corruption law as unconstitutional. The remaining guilty verdicts were upheld by the Appeals Court last October.

On Friday, Black claimed that his 29 months in prison should be enough for the remaining counts. However, prosecutors demanded that the Canadian-born businessman should be sent back to prison to fulfill the original 78-month sentence.

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