Ex-media magnate Conrad Black was released on a $2 million bond after serving just two years of his 6 1/2-year prison sentence.
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve decided Wednesday that Black be released from a minimum-security prison in Florida, AP reports.
The one-time owner of the Chicago Sun-Times, The Daily Telegraph in London and The Jerusalem Post, Black was convicted for fraud and obstruction of justice in 2007. An appeal granted on Monday allowed Black’s motion for bail, and an appeals court may eventually decide to overturn Black’s entire conviction.
It is unclear whether Black will eventually become a free man, but Monday’s grant makes it look promising.
“It would be hard to put this case back together again,” attorney Steven Skurka told the Associated Press. “You have someone who served two years. It’s hard to refocus three years later. If the court ordered a new trial, Black would never see a courtroom again.”
Black cannot leave the continental United States while on bond, but could be released from jail as early as Wednesday.
