Media mogul Conrad Black (62) has been found guilty of three counts of criminal fraud and another charge of obstructing justice in a verdict that could see him face a lengthy jail term of up to 35 years.
Black's three co-defendants were also convicted of three counts of mail fraud and could each get up to 15 years in prison. His lawyers said he would appeal. He is due to be sentenced on November 30th.
He was accused of misappropriating some $60 million in payments intended for Hollinger Inc, the company of which he was chairman and chief executive. It was claimed that his abuses of the company's resources included, amongst others, using its airplane to fly himself and his wife on holiday to the island of Bora Bora.
The Canadian-born member of Britain's House of Lords - who once derided the case against him as a "massive smear job" and "toilet seat" hanging around prosecutors' necks - faces millions of dollars in fines and forfeitures as well as a jail term.
The status of Black's bond was being reviewed by the trial judge but there were indications he would remain free and not be taken into custody.
The jury acquitted Black of a racketeering charge and all four defendants were also found not guilty of failing to file corporate tax returns.
Black's three co-defendants, former Hollinger International Inc chief financial officer Jack Boultbee (64); Peter Atkinson (60), former vice president and general counsel for the same company and Mark Kipnis (59), a former Hollinger lawyer, were all found guilty of the same mail fraud charges as Black.
The verdict left Black guilty of three counts of mail fraud and one charge of obstruction of justice out of the 13 counts against him.
Judge Amy St. Eve of the US District Court, who presided over the trial, will decide the amount of the fines and forfeitures, which could include Black's Palm Beach, Florida, estate and assorted other luxury items such as a $2.6 million diamond ring.
Black and the others had been accused by US prosecutors of pilfering $60 million in payments that should have benefited Hollinger International, once the world's third-largest English language newspaper chain, and its shareholders.
At one time, Hollinger's major newspaper holdings included such prominent names as the Daily Telegraphof London, the Jerusalem Postand Canada's National Post.
The verdict came after nearly 15 weeks of testimony in federal court.
The prosecution was led by the office of Chicago-based US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who also prosecuted former White House aide Scooter Libby.
The jury of nine women and three men had considered the complex, 42-count case for 12 days since it was handed to them on June 27th.
In a trial that featured about 50 witnesses, prosecutors painted Black and his associates as no better than common thieves.
The defense said the men, who pleaded not guilty and did not take the stand in their own defense, were victims of overzealous prosecutors who failed to produce either a "smoking gun" or victims.
Black was ousted as chairman of Hollinger International in 2003 after shareholders questioned the non-compete payment deals. An internal investigation in 2004 concluded that he and other executives oversaw a "corporate kleptocracy".
Black sat largely expressionless as the verdicts were read but a visible scowl crept across his face when he was found guilty of obstructing justice - a charge that related to his removing cartons of records from his Toronto office.
Black's 25-year-old daughter, Alana, and columnist-wife Barbara Amiel Black leaned over to talk to him; he remained seated at the defense table.
Hollinger International is now called the Sun-Times Media Group.