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Conrad Black is pinning his hopes on clemency from U.S. President George W. Bush as a last-ditch effort to get out of jail early, and he wants his former publishing company to foot the legal bill.

Lawyers for the deposed press baron, who is serving a 61/2-year prison sentence in Florida for fraud and obstruction of justice, recently submitted legal bills to Sun-Times Media Group, Inc., some of which referred to work done in pursuit of a clemency plea, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The sources said the company is balking at shouldering the payments, even though it has been forced by the courts to pay $117-million (U.S.) on the defence of Lord Black and other former company officials.

“We try to draw the line at outrageous things, and this is sort of one of them,” said one person close to the company, once a sprawling Chicago-based newspaper empire known as Hollinger International Inc.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the president can grant “reprieves and pardons” for all offences against the United States. The president can issue a pardon or a commutation, a reduction in sentence, for any reason and at any stage in the legal process.

Pardons effectively forgive an offence and erase a criminal record, but they are typically granted to people who have finished serving their sentences. Because Lord Black is still in prison, he could seek a commutation or reduction of his sentence, along with a reprieve from financial penalties.

Lord Black did not respond to questions this week about the clemency request, and his lawyer, Andrew Frey, was unavailable. In e-mails to The Globe and Mail earlier this month, Lord Black said he was doing fine in prison, but added that he had been “horrifyingly busy with one thing and another, which is why I am late replying.” When asked what was occupying his time, Lord Black replied: “Writing and reviewing legal initiatives, as well as dealing with my students.”

Lord Black and three other former Hollinger executives, John Boultbee, Peter Atkinson and Mark Kipnis, were convicted last year of fraud over the diversion of $6.1-million from the newspaper company.

Lord Black was also convicted of obstruction of justice. All four lost two appeals of their convictions, but there have been reports Lord Black planned to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Under a legal settlement reached in 2006, Sun-Times has been obliged to pay 75 per cent of the legal bills incurred by Lord Black and the others in the criminal case and half of the defence costs in various civil actions. Sun-Times may seek to recover the money if the convictions are upheld after all appeals have been exhausted.

In June, just weeks before he lost an appeal, Lord Black said he had no plans to request clemency, and had “nothing to do with any such initiative.”

Mr. Bush has been stingy with pardons throughout his political career. As governor of Texas, he granted fewer pardons than any of the state's governors since the 1940s: just 17, compared with 70 for his predecessor. As president, Mr. Bush has signed 157 pardons and six commutations. He turned down roughly 8,000 requests. Former president Bill Clinton granted 459 pardons and commutations, including 141 pardons and 36 commutations during his final days in office.

Mr. Bush's most controversial decision was the commutation of a 21/2-year prison sentence for Lewis (Scooter) Libby, former chief of staff of Vice-President Dick Cheney. In 2007, Mr. Libby was found guilty of obstruction of justice.

The commutation process is relatively straightforward. Lord Black would have to submit a form to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, indicating whether he is seeking a reduction of sentence, a remission of fines, or both. He would also have to spell out the nature of his offence, and provide reasons as to why he thinks his case merits presidential intervention.

Lord Black will join a long line. More than 2,000 requests for pardons and commutations have recently been made, according to the Department of Justice.

Those seeking pardons include Michael Milken, the former junk-bond king who was convicted in 1990 for securities fraud, and Marion Jones, a former Olympic sprinter who received a six-month sentence earlier this year for making false statements to investigators. Some seeking commutation include former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards, who is serving a 10-year sentence for racketeering, and former congressman Randy (Duke) Cunningham, doing eight years for conspiracy to commit bribery, fraud and tax evasion.