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US prosecutors today urged a judge to revoke Conrad Black's US$21 million ($26.8 million) bond and take the former media baron into custody immediately as a "four-time convicted felon" who could flee to his native Canada and who no longer has the assets to cover the bond.
The
statements came in a motion filed prior to a hearing on whether the 62-year-old member of Britain's House of Lords should remain free until he is sentenced on November 30 following his conviction on fraud and obstruction charges.
Judge Amy St Eve of US District Court in Chicago was to consider the issue today.
"Black's conduct from the outset of these proceedings has demonstrated a lack of respect for the conditions of his release and the entire judicial process," the motion signed by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said.
"Simply put, Black faces the potential of spending the rest of his life in a US prison," for a range of 24 to 30 years, it added.
It also said Canadian officials had confirmed that if Black, now a British citizen, returned to Canada, an agreement made in a US court waiving extradition would not be enforceable under Canadian law.
The motion also said Black faces forfeiture of US$6.1 million from the sale of his Park Avenue apartment and that he is in default on the mortgage for his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion. Both assets were used to secure the bond.
The Canadian-born Black surrendered his British passport (he renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001 in order to become a British lord) to the judge last Friday, shortly after a jury delivered its verdict.
He was found guilty on three fraud counts and one count of obstructing justice in swindling US$2.9 million from former media giant Hollinger International Inc. Three fellow former executives were also convicted.
The defendants had faced a total of 16 counts alleging they bilked their former company of some US$60 million in fees that should have benefited shareholders, abused company perks and filed false tax returns.
After the verdict, prosecutor Eric Sussman immediately asked that Black be jailed, calling him a flight risk who has misrepresented his wealth to the government during the case's pretrial phase. Black's lawyers vehemently disagreed, arguing that even if he wanted to escape, Black was too widely known and that he was eager to work on an appeal.
Prosecutors argued earlier that Black not only failed to keep up payments on his US$32 million Palm Beach estate but has hidden assets by transferring them to his wife, columnist Barbara Amiel Black.
St. Eve can place restrictions on Black's travel and raise, lower or revoke his bond and put him behind bars at the hearing.
It did not help Black's cause that he was quoted during the trial as referring to prosecutors as Nazis and pronouncing that the case against him and his co-defendants was "hanging like a toilet seat around their necks," Behre said.
After St. Eve sentences him in November, Black will likely be ordered to spend time behind bars, unless the judge is somehow persuaded that his appeal is likely to succeed, Behre said.
Unlike in Canada where nonviolent criminals can serve one-sixth of their sentences, Black must serve 85 per cent of his sentence in a US prison. He also faces millions of dollars in fines and forfeitures.
- REUTERS