Former newspaper mogul Conrad Black was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for swindling shareholders in his Hollinger International media empire out of millions of dollars to help finance his lavish lifestyle.
Black, 63, a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords renowned for his flamboyant way with words, had faced up to slightly more than eight years in prison under sentencing guidelines determined earlier on Monday by US District Judge Amy St. Eve.
Prosecutors had asked for as many as 30 years in prison for Black, saying he had not shown "one shred of remorse" for looting the company that once owned the Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Telegraph of London, Jerusalem Post and hundreds of US 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.
"The bottom line is Mr. Black will do six-and-a-half years in jail. That's a serious amount of time," US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told reporters.
Before he was sentenced, Black was variously described as generous and highly charitable, as well as defiant and without remorse.
NO APOLOGY
"I do wish to profess my profound regret and sadness at the severe hardship of all the shareholders at the evaporation of US$1.8 billion in shareholder value under my successors," Black said before the sentencing.
But he did not apologize for any actions he took while heading Hollinger.
Black left the courthouse without commenting.
St. Eve ordered Black to report to prison in 12 weeks, though she did not immediately give a specific date, and said he could remain free on his US$21 million bond in the meantime.
A major point of dispute among attorneys had been how to calculate the total loss to shareholders. Prosecutors put it at US$32 million.
But a pre-sentence report, prepared by the probation department, figured the loss at US$6 million, which could have factored into the decision to keep Black's sentence at the low end of the guidelines.
The judge said Black's sentence should be closer to that of F. David Radler, his former business partner, who became the government's star witness at the four-month trial.
Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Radler will get a 29-month sentence and US$250,000 fine.
Radler is also expected to serve much of his time in a Canadian prison, where sentences for nonviolent offenders are often cut down further.
ACQUITTAL
Black was acquitted of nine of the counts against him, including racketeering, but convicted of siphoning off US$6 million through bonuses disguised as such "non-compete" payments.
Black was also convicted of obstruction of justice for removing documents from his offices.
Black, Radler and three co-defendants were charged with siphoning money out of the company through payments made by buyers of Hollinger International's community papers in return for promises not to compete with the new owners.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary