Conrad Black has been found guilty on four of the thirteen charges against him (obstruction of justice and three counts of mail fraud). He faces a maximum of 35 years in prison.
The Globe and Mail
The Star
The New York Times
The obstruction of justice conviction stems from the video of Lord Black removing boxes from his former corporate HQ. The mail charges related to the non-competes with American Publishing Corporation.
Mark Steyn is disgruntled:
The government alleged three schemes - the "US scheme", the "CanWest scheme", the "perks scheme" - and upgraded them to racketeering, and threw in tax fraud. They lost on racketeering and tax. They lost outright on two-thirds of the schemes. And on the remaining scheme - the "US scheme" - they lost on everything but the APC non-compete fee. Yet, absent successful appeals, four men could be spending the rest of their working lives in jail. The US Attorney's office might usefully adopt as its motto the IRA's message to Mrs Thatcher after the Brighton bombing, "You have to be lucky every time. We only have to be lucky once."
Expect appeals - especially given the way the jury's deliberations played out.
Edited to add: Yup. Lawyers say he will appeal.
# posted by Keir Wilmut : 12:15 PM
