Bond Granted to Conrad Black Pending his Federal Appeal

 United States District Judge Amy St. Eve has released Conrad Black from federal prison pending the outcome of his federal appeal. The bond is set at $2,000,000.00. The federal judge allowed Black out based in part on the U.S. Supreme court's recent decision regarding the "honest services" defense. Black was convicted of defrauding shareholders of his company Hollinger International Inc. through fake non-compete agreements that benefited Black. Black's federal defense attorneys were able to successfully get him a bond by arguing that this Supreme Court decision could affect his sentence and previous trial outcome. In federal court there are limited circumstances that allow a convicted defendant be released on bond pending the appeal. Business Commercial Litigation. Most of those situations revolve around white collar cases. Most white collar defense attorneys have an appellate lawyer they can rely on to handle this area of the case. Once a person is convicted by a jury or pleads guilty to a federal indictment, sentencing usually does not occur for several months.

Many federal defense attorneys are able to keep their clients out of custody until sentencing. Once sentencing occurs most defendants that are sentenced to a term of imprisonment are taken into custody that day. The federal defense lawyer must be ready to present evidence to the federal judge showing that the defendant should be allowed to stay out pending the appeal. The judge will usually deny this request without some solid argument being presented by the defense attorney. In Black's case he was taken to prison and was only released because of the recent changes in the Supreme Court's interpretation of the law. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeal granted his release. Black's case was the case the Supreme Court reviewed under this issue and he had been found not guilty of most of the counts of fraud in his indictment. Black, unlike many defendants, was able to hire a very effective federal defense attorney and a very effective federal appellate attorney.