President Trump on Wednesday granted a full pardon to former press baron Conrad Black, who spent 3-1/2 years in prison after being convicted in 2007 of fraud and obstruction of justice.
Black, a Canadian-born British citizen, was found guilty in Chicago federal court of siphoning off millions of dollars from the sale of newspapers owned by Hollinger Inc, where he was the CEO and chairman.
Two of his three fraud convictions were later scrapped and his sentence shortened.
Black — who gave up his Canadian citizenship when he became a member of Britain’s House of Lords — was deported from the US in 2012 after being released from a Florida prison.
“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 in a statement.
The 74-year-old ex-media mogul — whose empire once included the Chicago Sun-Times and UK’s Daily Telegraph — has made “tremendous contributions to business, as well as to political and historical thought,” The White House said.
Examples of his work cited by the White House include biographies of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon.
More recently, Black has penned a book about Trump titled “Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other.”
The pair has known each other for decades and Trump was once in business with Hollinger Inc.