CHICAGO — Former newspaper mogul Conrad Black was sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years in prison, far less than sought by prosecutors, for swindling shareholders in his Hollinger media empire out of $6 million.
“Mr. Black, you have violated your duty to Hollinger International shareholders,” U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve told the silver-haired millionaire member of the British House of Lords known throughout the newspaper industry for his lavish lifestyle and flamboyant use of words.
Prosecutors had asked for as many as 30 years in prison for the Canadian-born Black, 63, saying he had not shown “one shred of remorse” for looting the company that once owned the Chicago Sun-Times, the Daily Telegraph of London, the Jerusalem Post and hundreds of U.S. and Canadian community newspapers.
“Obviously, there’s a great deal of relief” at the lighter-than-expected sentence, said Black attorney Jeffrey Steinback, who delivered a passionate, hour-long appeal for leniency.
Black, staying at his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on a $21 million bond, was given until March 3 to report to prison.
