CHICAGO — Conrad Black asked a U.S. federal judge Monday to release him from prison while he appeals his fraud conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The request followed a decision by the high court to turn down an earlier request for bail by the former media baron.

Black was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice by a Chicago jury in 2007.

He has been in prison since March of last year.

"If he is released on bail and does not prevail on appeal, there is no question that he would complete his sentence," Black's lawyers wrote in the application filed with the Chicago court.

"While such an eventuality would force Mr. Black to wait another several months before this matter is behind him, society's interest in seeing him punished would not be frustrated in the least."

The trial court in Chicago has already agreed to bail for Black's co-defendant John Boultbee -- whose case is being reviewed under the same decision.

Judge Amy St. Eve granted bail for Boultbee on a US$500,000 bond secured by his nephew until the Supreme Court makes a decision.

No filings can be made for co-defendant Peter Atkinson, who did not take part in the appeal.

The fourth co-defendant, Mark Kipnis, had been sentenced to house arrest and has no need to apply for bail.

Black was convicted of three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice.

The Supreme Court agreed to review the case last month and can now either leave the conviction in place, rule that one aspect of the case was flawed, or overturn it entirely.

At issue is the reach of a federal fraud statute that was originally aimed at prosecuting public officials.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld the convictions, but the county's appeals courts are divided on the central issue undergirding those convictions.

A decision isn't expected until June 2010 -- around the same time Boultbee is scheduled to be released.