The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will review the fraud conviction against former media mogul Conrad Black, for which he is currently serving a 6 1/2 year prison term.
The justices will hear arguments from Black's legal team later this year.
Black, the former chairman and chief executive of the Hollinger International media company, was convicted in July 2007 on fraud and obstruction of justice charges.
Two other former executives were also convicted of similar charges. Black's former partner, David Radler, agreed to testify against Black and received a 24-month jail term and a fine.
The charges were in connection to $5.5 million in payments they received from a subsidiary of Hollinger.
CTV's legal analyst Steven Skurka called Monday's decision a "big victory" for Black.
"They rarely take a case," Skurka said. "The fact that they take it is very meaningful and it gives Conrad Black the hope that indeed his convictions will be reversed."
He said most experts thought the chances that the court would hear his appeal were extremely remote.
Skurka said the courts of appeal in the United States are divided on the "honest services" theory.
He said the issue surrounds "whether or not the shareholders of Hollinger International were deprived of the honest services of Black and his two co-defendants by their actions and whether that statute was applied properly to the facts of this case."
Skurka said the Supreme Court's decision is "enormously important" because it will impact similar cases in the United States.
Black has already served more than one year of his sentence in a Florida jail.
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.
W-FIVE reporter and lawyer Paula Todd said she has kept in touch with Black during his time in jail.
Todd said Monday that Black remains "absolutely convinced" that he's innocent.
"If I were Conrad Black's lawyer I'd ask for bail, so let's look for that next," she told Â鶹´«Ã½net.
With files from The Associated Press
