Disgraced and convicted media baron Conrad Black is showing no sign of contrition and still believes he can win an appeal, even as his sentencing hearing next month fast approaches.
In an interview in the November issue of Men’s Vogue, Black blasts as “liars” many of the executives at his former company, Hollinger International, who testified against him in a federal trial in Chicago that ended in July with Black’s conviction on fraud and obstruction of justice charges.
“The jury clearly determined that all of the former Hollinger directors who testified lied under oath, and they did,” Black said in a 1,400-word e-mail to Men’s Vogue writer Nicholas Stein.
The e-mail was part of Black’s response to questions that Stein posed to the deposed media baron.
“It is a terrible thing to be wrongly accused and assaulted and defamed, and it is even more terrible to be unjustly convicted . . . but my health is good and I will survive it all,” Black wrote.
One of the most damning pieces of evidence used against Black at the trial was a security video that showed him carting away boxes from his office at Hollinger’s Toronto headquarters in apparent violation of a government order.
Black, who never testified in his defense, insisted the contents were personal effects packed by his assistant.
“I knew nothing of any official interest in the famous 13 boxes, had nothing to do with selecting their contents. I did not alter or even examine the boxes when they were in my house,” he wrote.
Sentence predictions range from seven to 15 years, with a maximum of 35 years for his conviction on three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice.
“I still hope for a complete acquittal and, on a worst case, not a severe sentence,” Black wrote.