President Donald Trump has signed a full pardon for former media mogul Conrad Black, convicted in 2007 of fraud and obstruction of justice.Black, 74, was found guilty in the United States in 2007 of scheming to siphon off millions of dollars from the sale of newspapers owned by Hollinger Inc. Black served nearly 42 months in prison after he was convicted.“Lord Black’s case has attracted broad support from many high-profile individuals who have vigorously vouched for his exceptional character,” the White House said Wednesday in a statement announcing the pardon.Black said in a statement that Trump called him last week.“He could not have been more gracious and quickly got to his point, that he was granting me a full pardon, that would ‘expunge the bad rap you got,’” Black said. “He had followed the case closely and offered to come to give evidence at my trial in Chicago in 2007 on one of the counts that was later an acquittal.”Black said Trump told him there’d be some controversy “but you can handle that better than anyone.” He said Trump checked with his lawyer to see if he could say that reversing an unjust verdict was his motive behind the pardon. “We’ve known each other a long time, but that wasn’t any part of the reason,” Trump is said to have told Black. “Nor has any of the supportive things you’ve said and written about me.”In 2007, Black was convicted of three counts of fraud and one of obstruction of justice in a Chicago court and sentenced to six and a half years in jail — more than twice the sentence handed to David Radler, his longtime partner who agreed to testify for the prosecution.Two of the criminal fraud charges were dropped on appeal. But a conviction for felony fraud and obstruction of justice were upheld in 2010 and he was re-sentenced to 42 months in prison and fined $125,000.When he was released he was deported back to Cana ...
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