Conrad Black gets 42-month jail term; wife faints

Conrad Black is returning to prison for about another year to serve time for fraud and obstruction of justice.

The U.S. judge who sentenced him on fraud convictions four years ago gave Black a 42-month term in a resentencing hearing Friday.

He already spent 29 months in prison and with other credits, Black could wind up spending another 13 months or less behind bars, based on good behaviour.

Black’s wife Barbara Amiel fainted when she heard the verdict and was treated by medical staff in the courtroom.

After the sentencing by Justice Amy St. Eve, Black and his lawyers agreed the convicted felon would surrender himself to prison authorities in about six weeks.

Earlier, St. Eve listened as Black asked to be set free, saying he and his family have suffered greatly for his fraud convictions.

Black quoted Mark Twain in defending himself, telling St. Eve “a lie gets half way around the world before the truth gets its trousers on.”

But he got more solemn in speaking of challenges his family has faced since accusations of fraud and corporate misdoings were levelled at him eight years ago, first by shareholders of his companies and later by the U.S. government.

“My concern is not for myself … but for those dearest to me,” he said.

“Your honour, because I do not speak of it much you must not believe my family and I have not suffered deeply in the past eight years.”

Earlier, Black’s lawyers pleaded with St. Eve to set him free, citing health problems they say could worsen if he’s sent back to prison.

Black has already served enough time, and demonstrated good behaviour during the 29 months he spent behind bars in Florida before being released on appeal last year, his legal team told St. Eve.

Black’s co-defendants, who were convicted alongside him nearly four years ago, all served lesser sentences, they noted.

Black, 66, was convicted of three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice by a Chicago jury in 2007 in a four-month trial that focused on the complaints of shareholders who said they’d been swindled out of $6.1 million.

He was sentenced to 78 months in jail, but served just over a third of that time.

Black’s efforts as an educator at the prison in Coleman, Fla.,”were nothing less than extraordinary,” argued lawyer Carolyn Gurland, noting he maintained a positive attitude “despite the enormity of the suffering that he endured.”

Lawyer Miguel Estrada said Black showed grace under pressure during his time at the central Florida prison, which largely houses violent criminals and drug offenders.

” It is not typical of what people found guilty of this sort of crime have to endure,” Estrada said.

Black suffers from high blood pressure and high cholesterol — conditions that aren’t monitored well in jail — and has since been diagnosed with skin cancer, his lawyers said. Prison is no place for a man of his age and in his condition, they argued.

His wife, Amiel, remains frail and also suffers from an autoimmune condition, the defence said. Being forced to leave the United States, which they would be were Black to be freed, ought to be punishment enough, they added.

Even a few more months in jail would cause “enormous upheaval and agony for him and his family.