Conrad Black going back to prison

Tim Boyle / Bloomberg

Conrad Black, former chairman of Hollinger International Inc., right, arrives with his wife Barbara Amiel at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse for a resentencing hearing in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, June, 24, 2011

Sarah Boesveld  Jun 24, 2011 – 2:54 PM ET | Last Updated: Jun 24, 2011 8:57 PM ET

By Theresa Tedesco
Chief Business Corespondent

The only sound that could be heard in the 12th floor courtroom in downtown Chicago immediately after Conrad Black was sentenced to an additional year in a U.S. prison was the sudden thud of Barbara Amiel Black’s head hitting the front row bench.

Overcome at the prospect that her 66-year-old husband would spend more time in a penitentiary, the frail 70-year-old wife of the former media baron who had been silently weeping with a tissue under her chin for most of the four-hour hearing, collapsed immediately as the judge ordered him back to jail on Friday, almost a year after he’d been released following 29 months in a Florida prison.

As court marshals and a medic rushed to her aid, the hearing continued unabated with the collapse acting as the punctuation mark on the oratory her husband had just delivered to the court, during which he expressed some regret, railed at his corporate successors who destroyed his media empire, for having trusted his long-time business partner David Radler, and for his “skepticism about corporate governance zealotry.”

For about 25 minutes, he unleashed an unrepentant speech full of pent-up opinions, not the least of which was the toll the eight-year legal campaign against him has taken on his family. “My concern is not for myself … but for those dearest to me,” he told Judge Amy St. Eve. “My family has suffered deeply … I do have great concerns in that area.”

When he was finished speaking, the judge went through a checklist of procedural explanations, leading to her justification for reducing his original 78-month sentence to 42 months.

“It was about what I expected,” he told the National Post after he the hearing. “It is now a public relations battle and the first round was my remarks today, and the next round will be my book in a few months.”

Still, it was not what he was hoping for.

His legal team had asked Judge St. Eve to release him from jail for time served as a result of his diminished convictions, his ailing health, and because he’d been a model prisoner.

It was not to be, that much was clear a few minutes into Friday morning hearing when the judge remarked that based on the federal sentencing guidelines, the new range for the one count of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice that remained was between 51 to 63 months.

It was highly unlikely that the judge, who rules by the book, would submit to a “variance,” effectively shaving a year off the federal guidelines, as Lord Black’s lawyers had asked her to consider.

From then on, it was really a matter of patiently listening to the submissions from both sides to make sure that her decision could withstand an appeal.

If they knew their arguments and voluminous submissions would be in vain, Lord Black’s lawyers certainly didn’t show it.

Three different lawyers argued repeatedly that there was no point sending him back to jail, because he’d already “has suffered unmitigated” personal consequences.

David DeBolt talked about “prosecutorial intimidation” by the government against Lord Black, who should not be blamed or punished for “being skeptical of the system.”

Carolyn Gurland, a Chicago-based lawyer, described Lord Black’s efforts as an educator at Coleman Federal Correctional facility in Florida “as an inspiration in a place where inspiration is rare.”

Reading from letters submitted by his fellow inmates, she told the court that Lord Black’s work as a tutor and mentor at the prison “affirmed the worth of many people whose life had been deemed worthless.” She spoke at length about the U.S. government’s contradictory affidavits from two prison staff members at Coleman who depicted Lord Black as an uninspired tutor who demanded special treatment.

Calling them a “recent fabrication” and “false,” Ms. Gurland argued it was “wrong to imply that his sentence should be more severe because of a mistaken depiction that he is an elitist.”

Ms. Gurland also read from letters submitted to the court by family and friends and noted Lord Black has serious health issues, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a heart arithmyia and required medical attention for skin cancer.

Miguel Estrada, the Washington-based lawyer who led the U.S. Supreme Court, described the “grace” Lord Black showed during his incarceration, which he described as “an utterly dehumanizing environment.”

“At the end of the day, this is about who Mr. Black is and what he does with the rest of his life,” Mr. Estrada told the judge. “He’s already been harshly punished.”

U.S. prosecutor Julie Porter asked that Lord Black be forced to compete his 78 month sentence, and scoffed at his “celebrity status in Coleman.”

She accused Lord Black’s team of laying “it on awfully thick” by offering an “exaggerated picture of his time” in prison, and asked the judge to view the letters from inmates “with a grain of salt.”

Mrs. Porter, one of the four attorneys who prosecuted Lord Black in 2007, defended against allegations that the government pursued the former media baron because of they confused his right to defend himself and not acquiesce as arrogance.

“To the extend the government cares about arrogance,” she said, “is the arrogance of a corporate CEO who committed fraud and covers it up by obstructing justice. That’s the only arrogance the government cares about.”

Finally, about three hours into the hearing, Lord Black stood to address the judge. In his remarks, he quoted Mark Twain, saying “a lie gets half way around the world before the truth gets its trousers on.” He added: “It is very late in this case, Your Honor, but the truth has almost caught up with the original allegations.”

Lord Black, who once controlled the third largest English-language newspaper empire, which included the National Post, was originally convicted in 2007 of three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice for misappropriating US$6.1-million at Chicago-based Hollinger International Inc.

After a series of appeals, his convictions have been reduced to one count of fraud ($600,000) and the obstruction of justice, resulting in Friday’s resentencing hearing.

During his remarks, Lord Black challenged the prosecution’s portrayal of him as a “guerrilla warrior,” insisting he had been “absolutely submissive” to the court and “scrupulously obedient” to all of its rulings. In prison, Black said, he followed “every rule, every regulation” no matter how draconian.

“The problem is not my lawlessness, it is the weakness of their case,” he told the judge.

As a result, Lord Black said, the source of the government’s “irritation” toward him was that “I have led the destruction of most of their case, and have successfully protested my innocence of charges of which I have, in fact, been found not to have been guilty.”

In her ruling, Judge St. Eve largely said the prison letters played a “significant” role in her decision and that she was impressed by the preponderance of letters, especially from Lord Black’s fellow inmates, that showed “you are different person today having spent 29 months in jail.”

After Judge St. Eve rendered her verdict, his lawyers asked for six weeks before he surrenders to prison authorities. They also requested an opportunity for Lord Black to renew his British passport. The judge agreed, even suggesting he use his time before going back to jail to process the paperwork and get photographs.

“You are different person today having spent 29 months in jail,” she said. “I still scratch my head as to why you engaged in this conduct. Good luck to you.”

With that, a concerned-looking Lord Black rushed out of the courtroom to check on his wife.

National Post
ttedesco@nationalpost.com