CHICAGO, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Disgraced media tycoon Conrad Black was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison, substantially less than the U.S. government had sought for the 63-year-old Canadian.
He was also fined $120,000 and must forfeit $6.1 million, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve said.
Black could be out of jail in 5 1/2 years with good behavior, The Toronto Star reported.
St. Eve gave Black, a member of the British House of Lords, 12 weeks to report to a low-security federal prison at Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Fla.
The judge, who presided over his four-month Chicago trial, said she used more-lenient 2000 sentencing guidelines, rather than the tougher 2006 guidelines the government wanted, because a Black co-defendant had been sentenced under the less-harsh guidelines in a plea bargain.
Under the tougher guidelines, Black -- who once headed Hollinger International Inc. and led a media empire that included The Chicago Sun-Times, London's Daily Telegraph and The Jerusalem Post -- could have could have been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Before sentencing, Black said he had "very profound regret" that his "successors" at Hollinger after his ouster plunged the company's stock price, costing shareholders money, the Sun-Times reported.
He didn't apologize for any actions that led to his trial, the newspaper said.
Black was convicted July 13 of three counts of mail fraud and obstruction of justice. He was acquitted on nine other charges.
Black has 10 days to appeal his sentence and conviction, which his lawyer said he would do.
