Conrad Black struck out Monday in his bid for a new federal fraud trial but the judge gave a slight break to a lawyer who worked on some of the former media mogul's million-dollar deals.

Black and three co-defendants were convicted July 13 of three mail fraud counts for pocketing millions of dollars prosecutors said belonged to shareholders in his Hollinger International newspaper empire.

Black, once one of the most powerful men in the newspaper publishing business, was also convicted of spiriting boxes of documents out of his Toronto offices even though he knew federal prosecutors wanted them.

"The government introduced more than enough evidence to support each defendant's convictions on the mail fraud counts and defendant Black's obstruction of justice conviction" with one exception, Judge Amy St. Eve said in a 39-page ruling.

St. Eve did acquit Chicago attorney Mark Kipnis of one mail fraud conviction.

Black, Kipnis, John Boultbee and Peter Atkinson are due to be sentenced Nov. 30.

David Radler, who had pleaded guilty and was the government's star witness at the trial, was to be sentenced later.