Conrad Black เป็นชาวแคนาดาโดยกำเนิด เป็นเจ้าพ่อวงการสื่อ ร่ำรวยเป็นพันๆล้านเหรียญ ปัจจุบันก็เป็นพลเมืองของอเมริกาเพราะไปทำธุรกิจในอเมริกาด้วย แต่ถูกฟ้องฐานฉ้อโกง ต่อมายังไปส่อเจตนาขัดขวางกระบวนการทางยุติธรรม ในที่สุดศาลก็ตัดสินให้จำคุก 6 ปีครึ่ง ถึงแม้จะมีการยื่นอุทธรณ์ แต่ยังไงก็ต้องไปนอนคุกก่อนอย่างน้อย 3 เดือนแน่นอน และแชร์ตารางเดียวกับนักโทษทั่วไป
คงยากที่จะเห็นอะไรแบบนี้ใน "ศรีธนญชัยแลนด์" เพราะในศรีธนญชัยแลนด์ คนมีเงินต่อให้โคตรเฮี้ยยังไงก็ไม่มีทางผิด สามารถได้รับเกียรติให้ไปคุยกันหลังฉาก ต่อรองกับคนที่เรียกกันว่าเป็นผู้ทรงเกียรติ ที่อ้างตลอดว่าตัวเองรักชาติและเที่ยวไปเรียกร้องให้คนอื่นเสียสละConrad Black set to report to prison
'The only thing he's afraid of is being bored,' lawyer saysLast Updated: Monday, March 3, 2008 | 6:03 AM ET
CBC News
Former media baron Conrad Black is set to be fingerprinted and searched as he reports to a Florida prison Monday to begin serving a 6½-year sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice.
Black will have to surrender to the federal prison, likely a low-security facility at the Coleman Federal Correction Complex in central Florida, by 2 p.m. local time, where he will become inmate number 18330-424.
Black will also be photographed, given a DNA test, a bed assignment and an orientation schedule.
At Coleman, there are two fences and two layers of barbed wire surrounding the complex. Montreal-born Black, 63, will be housed in a dorm-like setting and share a cubicle with another man. The living space of less than three square metres with two bunks per room is separated from adjacent cubicles by cinder-block walls.
He will also be given a job, which will earn him anywhere from 12 to 40 cents an hour.
The Montreal-born Black was convicted July 13 of obstructing justice and defrauding shareholders of his former newspaper company, Hollinger International Inc.
Friends have been quoted as saying Black is "serene" ahead of his jail time, and is ready for anything he may face in prison. Black has indicated he will teach, write and pray while in prison.
"I saw him two weeks ago and he was pleasant, full of life and joking," said lifelong friend Brian Stewart.
"I think he feels ready for anything that lies ahead. He's not going to let it get him down."
"He has said the only thing he's afraid of is being bored," Hugh Totten, an American trial lawyer who closely followed the Black case in Chicago, told CBC Newsworld on Sunday.
Black's lawyer, Andrew Frey, said he was "surprised and disappointed" last Thursday when a Chicago court ruled that Black could not delay the prison term during his appeal.
'Grotesque charade': Black
In an e-mail with the Business News Network on Saturday, Black held out hope that his time in prison will be short.
"The judges' comments on the main remaining fraud counts show that the government's case is still disintegrating," Black said.
"This process will continue and justice will prevail, one way or another. I will speak to you at any length you want, when this grotesque charade is over."
Although the court denied his request for bail pending appeal, it noted that "substantial questions" were raised about two of the fraud counts.
The court did also say, however, that issues related to another fraud count and Black's obstruction of justice conviction were "less clear."
His lawyers are expected to file their appeal on Thursday, and the case should be heard by June. That means the former head of Hollinger International will have to spend at least three months in prison, even if any of his convictions are overturned.
If the appeal fails, he will have to complete at least 85 per cent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
With files from the Canadian Press
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/03/03/black-prison.html
