Hearing set for Black as he bids to remain free

[January 13, 2011]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Will former media mogul Conrad Black end up going back to prison?

A status hearing Thursday in Chicago isn't expected to answer that question definitively. But it could provide clues about what U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve's inclined to do.

After serving two years of a 6 1/2-year sentence, Black was released from a Florida prison last year pending appeal.

An appeals court in October reversed two of the 66-year-old's fraud convictions. It cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling curtailing "honest services."

But it let stand a fraud and obstruction of justice conviction. Judge St. Eve's options include resentencing Black or freeing him for good based on time served.

Among the steps she could take Thursday is scheduling a resentencing date.

Black's expected to appear at the Chicago hearing.

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL TARM]

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