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Judge: Conrad Black Can't Leave United States

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Conrad Black (File Photo) CBS

CHICAGO (CBS) ―Former media mogul and Chicago Sun-Times parent company owner Conrad Black won't be allowed to return to his home in Canada for the time being. 

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve on Friday ordered Black to surrender his expired passport. She also says Black can't obtain a new passport without the court's permission.

Black was freed from a Florida federal prison Wednesday after serving just two years of a 6 1/2-year sentence for defrauding investors.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday granted Black's motion for bail, pending the outcome of the appeal of his 2007 conviction.

St. Eve set his bond at $2 million.

After his release, Black returned to his oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Fla., but his lawyer said he'd prefer to return to Canada.

Black was convicted along with three other former executives from the media empire Hollinger International of swindling the company's shareholders out of $6.1 million. He was acquitted of nine other charges.

Staffers at the Sun-Times blame Black, his Sun-Times publisher F. David Radler, and other officials for looting the company and leaving it with a burden of $608 million in taxes and penalties. The Sun-Times Media Group filed for bankruptcy last year.

In addition to the Sun-Times, Hollinger also owned the Daily Telegraph of London, the Jerusalem Post and hundreds of community papers across this country and Canada.

He renounced his Canadian citizenship to become a member of the British House of Lords.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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