Conrad Black gets 78 months (after a favorable guideline ruling)

As detailed in this Chicago Tribune article and this AP report, Conrad Black received his federal sentence today.  Here are the basics from the AP:

Former newspaper mogul Conrad Black was sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years in prison for swindling shareholders in his Hollinger International media empire out of millions of dollars to help finance his lavish lifestyle.

Black, 63, a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords renowned for his flamboyant way with words, had faced up to slightly more than 8 years in prison under sentencing guidelines determined earlier Monday by U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve.

Federal prosecutors previously asked St. Eve, who presided over Black's four-month trial earlier this year, to sentence the silver-haired press lord to federal prison for as long as 24 years for his July 13 convictions on three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice.

As hinted in this account, Lord Black got the benefit of very favorable guideline rulings at the outset of his sentencing and they got a sentence at the bottom of the calculated guideline range.  It will be interesting to see if the Government, after Black appeals his convictions, considers a sentencing cross-appeal.