U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a full pardon of former media mogul Conrad Black, who was convicted in 2007 of fraud and obstruction of justice.
Black, age 74, spent almost four years in a Florida prison before being released and deported back to Canada. He had originally been sentenced to 78 months in jail, but his sentence was reduced after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down several of his convictions.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the White House said Black has made "tremendous contributions to business, as well as to political and historical thought." The statement also cites several prominent individuals who "have vigorously vouched for [Black's] exceptional character.” They include former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Elton John and the late William F. Buckley Jr.
Black, a Canadian-born British citizen, once ran an international newspaper empire that included the National Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, Britain's Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post. He was found guilty in the U.S. in 2007 of scheming to siphon off millions of dollars from the sale of newspapers owned by Hollinger Inc., where he was Chief Executive Officer.
Black has remained steadfast in declaring his innocence on all of the U.S. charges and in his belief that he was subjected to unfair prosecution. He was previously a neighbour of Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, and, in 2018, published a book called "Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other," that reviewers described as "flattering."
