Beleaguered Conrad Black Goes to Trial

[Judi Lynn]

Mar 11, 2:36 PM EDT

Beleaguered Conrad Black Goes to Trial

By MIKE ROBINSON
Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- As chairman of the far-flung Hollinger newspaper empire, tall, silver-haired, magnificently tailored Conrad M. Black reigned supreme as one of the world's most powerful media moguls. His lifestyle included $60,000-plus birthday parties for his wife, dinners with the rich and famous and jaw-dropping renovations of a Park Avenue apartment.

Black, however, will spend much of this spring in a federal courtroom in Chicago facing charges that he scammed Hollinger International Inc. stockholders out of $80 million while he sold off company assets.

Federal prosecutors say he brazenly - and illegally - billed those same people for a vacation on the Pacific island of Bora Bora, dinners with Henry Kissinger at Le Cirque in New York and a $90,000 restoration of his antique Rolls Royce.

With jury selection set to begin Wednesday, the 62-year-old Lord Black of Crossharbour - born in Canada but (snip)

If Black is convicted of all counts, he could be sentenced to up to 101 years in prison. The actual time would be determined by the judge and likely be much less.
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BLACK_TRIAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-03-11-14-36-06

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