Conrad Black jury delivers mixed verdict
In a brutal downfall, former media tycoon Conrad Black will be going from a mansion to a prison cell as a jury on Friday convicted him of three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice as part of a scam to rip off shareholders.
Black, whose media empire once included the Chicago Sun-Times, was acquitted, though, on the most serious charge in the case, racketeering, as well as wire fraud and tax fraud charges.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
Black, 62, could spend the rest of his life in prison as well as lose millions of dollars in forfeiture to the federal government.
“Even in the most conversative estimate, Mr. Black is looking at between 15 to 20 years,” said Eric Sussman, one of the prosecutors in the case.
Black had repeatedly scoffed at the prosecution’s case against him and assembled a legal dream team of defense attorneys to combat the charges.
On Friday morning, the judge and jury waited on Black — dressed in a tan suit, blue shirt and blue-and-red tie — as he arrived 10 minutes late to court. He showed no emotion as the verdict was read shortly before 10:30 a.m. in the federal courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve in downtown Chicago. His wife and daughter were dry-eyed as well.
The jury also found Black’s three co-defendants, who were officers in his company, guilty of three counts of mail fraud. They are former Hollinger International vice presidents John Boultbee, 64, of Vancouver, and Peter Y. Atkinson, 60, of Toronto, and attorney Mark Kipnis, 59, of Northbrook.
Two of the mail fraud counts relate to a non-compete agreement in which Black, Atkinson and Boultbee paid themselves $5.5 million to essentially not compete against themselves.
Hollinger International once owned community papers across the United States and Canada as well as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Toronto-based National Post, The Daily Telegraph of London and Israel's Jerusalem Post. The Sun-Times is the only large paper remaining. The name of the company has been changed to Sun-Times News Group.
“The verdict lifts a dark burden and an uncertainty from a long period in the company history,” said Cyrus Freidheim Jr., chief executive officer of Sun-Times Media Group Inc. The trial is one of several steps the company is pursuing in seeking restitution, he said.
Former publisher David Radler, who pleaded guilty in the case and was a star witness against Black, already has repaid the company $63.4 million.
Freidheim said that while the verdict is welcome, the Sun-Times remains “fully and intensely” focused on its future and on improving its standing in a competitive marketplace.
“Everyone from the board on down has spent a lot time on this issue and now we don’t have to do that,” Freidheim said of the trial.
Black’s conviction on the obstruction of justice charge came after jurors saw videotape of Black carting away boxes of documents from his Toronto offices, despite a court order not to remove potential evidence.
Jurors reached their decision on their 12th day of deliberation.
Hugh Totten, a Chicago attorney, with the law firm of Perkins Coie who observed the trial, praised the jury, calling them “incredible.”
“They did a remarkable job of sifting through a mountain of evidence and reaching a common-sense verdict,” Totten said.
Orin Snyder, a former assistant U.S. attorney who has prosecuted corporate fraud cases, said Friday, “This verdict is bad news for Conrad Black. Although it has the appearance of being a split decision, Black was convicted of both fraud and obstruction of justice.
“These are very serious crimes that carry very significant jail time and millions of dollars in fines,” said Snyder, a litigation partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. “The jury seems to have resolved whatever differences it had by acquitting Black on the remaining charges, but the conviction on the four charges is real a victory for the government.”
Contributing: David Roeder, The Associated Press