Disgraced media baron Conrad Black is looking for a way out of prison, and he's hoping it might come in the form of clemency from outgoing U.S. President George Bush.
Black is currently serving out a six-and-a-half year sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice in a Florida detention centre.
The convictions relate to the sale of newspapers by the Black-controlled Hollinger International Inc. The company is currently named Sun-Times Media.
Legal bills recently submitted by Black's lawyers to the Sun-Times group show some of their billed hours were spent working on a clemency plea, The Globe and Mail reports.
Bush has granted 157 pardons during his term -- less than any other president since the Second World War, other than his father George H.W. Bush. He has also granted six commutations of sentence.
Black had previously said he would not seek a presidential pardon, but with just a few months left in Bush's term, he may have changed his mind.
Black holds conservative political views and Bush is a conservative Republican.
Under U.S. law, the president can grant a pardon or a reduction of sentence, known as a commutation, at any time during his term and at any stage in the legal process.
However, according to the Justice Department website, Black isn't eligible to apply for a pardon, since he is still serving his sentence. He would only be able to request a commutation, or reduction in his sentence.
"No petition for pardon should be filed until the expiration of a waiting period of at least five years after the date of the release of the petitioner from confinement," the website states.
If the request for clemency is denied, Black would have to serve 85 per cent of his sentence before being considered for release.
Black was convicted in July 2007 along with Jack Boultbee, Peter Atkinson and U.S. lawyer Mark Kipnis.
They all received lesser sentences.
In June 2008 Black lost an appeal he had filed to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The Chicago court found Black had received a fair trial and must abide by its decision.
