TORONTO - Conrad Black says he's adapting well to life behind bars and doesn't expect to run into any problems while serving his six-and-a-half-year prison term in the United States.
"I am doing fine,'' Black said in an e-mail to The Canadian Press from his Florida prison. "This is a safe and civilized place and I don't anticipate any difficulty.''
The Montreal-born press baron, who was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice last year over payments he took while he was at the head of the Hollinger International newspaper empire, began serving his time at the Coleman minimum-security prison in central Florida on March 3.
Black, whose ongoing commentary to the media throughout the trial angered prosecutors, had said little in the weeks leading up to his surrender. He had also declined to comment as he headed to jail, although his lawyers said at the time that "when historians review this case, they will conclude it was a terrible injustice.''
Black has vehemently defended his innocence -- both throughout his trial in Chicago and in his comments afterwards.
Over the last few weeks, he helped his lawyers draft their appeal motion, which was filed with the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on March 14.
They're asking the court to throw out his guilty convictions, saying prosecutors failed to prove Black had "guilty knowledge'' of any fraud and describing his obstruction-of-justice conviction as "preposterous.''
Black has long said he considered the prosecution's case to be weak, and has repeatedly pointed out he was acquitted on several of the charges brought against him. The other charges, he has maintained, will be thrown out on appeal.
"You are well aware of my views of the remaining counts, and of my expectation that they will be overturned on appeal,'' Black said in the e-mail.
He declined any further comment, saying: "I have uniformly declined to be interviewed at this time.''
The precise process for how Black's e-mail was sent is unclear. However, an official at Coleman confirms the facility is equipped to take part in a U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons pilot program called TRULINCS, or Trust Fund Limited Inmate Communication System.
"It's not access to the Internet and it's not direct,'' said bureau spokeswoman Traci Billingsley from Washington, who added incoming and outgoing messages are vetted before being transmitted.
"It's all computer-generated, it's held, and then it's forwarded out, and it can only go to individuals on their approved email list.'' she added. "It stays on a bureau prison server, so it never goes out (directly) on the Internet. There's no Internet access.''
Black's appeal is expected to go before the court in June, and prosecutors are due to file their reply next month.
Black, 63, was head of the world's third-largest media empire until he was ousted in 2003 following shareholder complaints. He was convicted in July of three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with millions of dollars prosecutors said were illegally pocketed from Hollinger. A Chicago jury acquitted him on nine other charges.
Before reporting to jail, he had been staying at his ocean-front mansion in Palm Beach, where his wife, Barbara Amiel Black, has remained so she can visit him often.
Black's lead appeal lawyer, Andrew Frey, said last week that Amiel and Black's daughter Alana had been visiting him "with some frequency.''
Black's 30-year-old son, Jonathan, was recently charged with careless driving and failing to stop after a hit-and-run in downtown Toronto.
