Less than two weeks away from his sentencing, Conrad Black again protested his innocence, railed against the U.S. justice system, and said he would be back — perhaps in finance.
In his first wide-ranging media interview since his conviction in July, Black spoke to BBC Radio of his "persecution" by the U.S. government and repeated his view that the evidence did not justify his convictions.
'I clearly misjudged the strength of the corporate governance movement'—Conrad Black
He doesn't appear to blame the jury that found him guilty on four of 13 counts. "These are 12 people who don't have a financial background," he said.
There was no admission of guilt or sense of remorse. "I'm an innocent man and fighting for my life," he told an interviewer. "This story isn't over."
Black was convicted of three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice related to the misappropriation of non-compete payments at the Hollinger newspaper empire. He will be sentenced Dec. 10.
While he faces up to 35 years in prison, a pre-sentence report has recommended he be given far less — perhaps five to seven years.
Black acknowledged that jail is "a distinct possibility," and said if it comes to that, "I'll cope with it."
When asked what he could have done differently, he did admit to one mistake: "I clearly misjudged the strength of the corporate governance movement," he said.
But Black's demeanor was defiant through most of the interview, calling the case against him "rubbish," saying most of the government's case had "fallen apart," and at one point making a reference to "corporate governance zealots." He bristled when the interviewer referred to his "fall from grace."
"This isn't a fall and it isn't the end, even on a worst case," he said. "I'll be back."
When asked what he could do, Black said he had a background in only two fields — publishing and finance.
"I think I could return to finance," he said. "I mean, this is not a difficult area to make money in."
