‘Haughty’ Conrad Black seeks his freedom

Was Conrad Black a model prisoner during his 29 months incarceration in a Florida prison, generously tutoring other inmates in history and English, to the point where one young man broke down in gratitude to the former Daily Telegraph proprietor when he was released?

Or was he an arrogant prig who treated lesser mortals "like servants", getting his fellow inmates to clean and iron for him, and mop his floor, while they in turn felt obliged to salute him in the prison classroom?

The question is pertinent because Lord Black, after a nearly a year living in Florida and then New York on bail, goes back today before a Chicago judge who must decide whether he has served enough jail time for his crimes - or whether he should return to prison.

And among the documents Judge Amy St Eve may consider in reaching her decision are sworn affidavits from two of the prison staff at the Coleman correctional facility in Florida, who claim Black was anything but a model prisoner. He was, they say, "haughty" and "projected an attitude that he was better than others".

The US district attorney who collected the affidavits believes these statements, taken in conjunction with Black's refusal to feel remorse for his crimes -  "he fails to acknowledge his central role in destroying Hollinger International through greed and lies" - should persuade the judge to lock him up again.

In Canada, where the fortunes of Conrad Black and his wife Barbara Amiel are followed keenly, there is a sense that the American prosecutors are being unnecessarily vindictive.

No one who has crossed Black's path would be surprised to hear him described as "haughty" - Conrad doesn't do humble. But as Peter Worthington wrote in the Toronto Sun this month, Black has always been "ineffably courteous and polite, especially to those who show an interest in him".

Worthington says he visited Black at Coleman and detected nothing resembling a superior attitude. Indeed, Black was clearly well liked by fellow inmates and appeared "affable" in their midst.

"A woman in line, visiting an inmate, said 'God bless him' about Conrad, for how he had helped her son or whoever it was she was visiting," writes Worthington.

Black himself has dismissed the affidavit claims as "lies extorted by the prosecutors from susceptible Bureau of Prisons officials".

His Washington-based lawyer, Miguel Estrada, calls them "a tactic born out of desperation".

Estrada has promised to present to the court today a "full and accurate picture" of his client's behaviour during those 29 months at Coleman, "well supported by statements from persons who do not happen to work for the same Department of Justice that seeks to sentence Mr Black as if nothing has changed in the last four years".

Today's re-sentencing is necessary because while Black has managed to get two fraud convictions quashed during a complicated appeal process, a third count of fraud and the more serious conviction for obstruction of justice were upheld.

When he was originally convicted, he was given four jail sentences to run concurrently. The longest - the one that got him a 78-month term - was for the obstruction of justice.

What Judge St Eve has to decide is whether he should now return to jail to serve all or at least some of those remaining 49 months, or whether the 29 months already served is punishment enough.

As Black heads to court today, opinion among lawyers is divided.

Chicago lawyer Andrew Stoltman told the Globe and Mail he believes Black will have to return to jail and serve at least another year.
"That obstruction-of-justice charge," he said, "that's a serious charge".

Jacob Frenkel, a former US prosecutor, believes the prison staff affidavits "may reinforce his image of perceived entitlement" but says they are unlikely to have any effect on Judge St Eve.

Frenkel told the Montreal Gazette: "Arrogance alone is not enough for the judge to send him back to prison."

Black himself is typically sanguine - dare one say, haughty. "If I am sent back [to jail], it will not be for very long," he wrote in a recent e-mail to the Globe and Mail. "I do feel that I will ultimately win the battle, as the poverty of the government's case is clear."

If he does win his freedom, Black hopes to rebuild his career and return to Canada.

That is easier said than done. Amid considerable ridicule in his home country at the time, Conrad Black gave up his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to become a British citizen in order to accept the offer of a peerage.

As a result, he has no immigration status in Canada. However, he still has a home in Toronto and the fact that his Anglo-Canadian wife Barbara Amiel has been unwell, and is now said to require heart surgery, might persuade the authorities to show a little compassion. Especially if Judge St Eve feels able to do the same. ·