Black won’t get far upon release

Former media baron Conrad Black will be detained by federal U.S. officials upon his release from prison, which is expected Friday.

This was confirmed to Postmedia News by Nestor Yglesias, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.

“Conrad Black does have an immigration detainer launched against him,” he said.

This means that, since Black is not a citizen of the U.S., he will be seized for the purpose of either immigration or removal proceedings.

He is expected to return to Toronto after having received a temporary permit to come to Canada from the federal government.

However, it is unclear how long U.S. authorities will hold him or where he will be sent. Black is a citizen of the United Kingdom and gave up his Canadian citizenship in 2001 in order to accept a peerage in Britain’s House of Lords.

Black is coming to the end of a 42-month prison term in Miami for fraud and obstruction of justice.

Meanwhile, Black will not be allowed to argue in Canada’s top court that he should have been allowed to see financial details of settlements involving his former company, Hollinger Inc.

The Supreme Court of Canada announced Thursday that it would not hear Black’s appeal of a sealing order.

The orderred acted amounts that were to be paid to Hollinger Inc. in two proposed settlements — settlements that took place as Black was involved in a legal back and forth with the company.

Black argued the blocked details constituted a serious and unjustified infringement of the open court principle.

He was pushed out of executive positions in Hollinger in 2004.