CHICAGO -- A federal judge agreed Wednesday to release former publishing magnate Conrad Black on a $2 million unsecured bond.

Black may be released from a Florida prison later Wednesday. After his release, he will have to return to Chicago to learn of further conditions of his bond. That may be Friday or Monday.

Black has served more than two years of a 78-month sentence. He was convicted in 2007 of three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice during his term as chief executive officer of Hollinger International Inc., former parent of the Chicago Sun-Times.

The bond will be guaranteed by Roger Hertog, a friend of Black's.

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve also said that Black should remain in the United States, but is open to letting him to return to his home in Toronto while a federal appeals court decides whether to overturn his 2007 fraud conviction.

He was found guilty of taking millions of dollars from the company through bogus non-compete agreements stemming from the sale of newspapers.

The U.S. Supreme Court last month found issue with the conviction because it involved "honest-services" fraud. The court weakened the fraud law to include only bribes and kickbacks in the deprivation of honest services. The law has been used to prosecute public officials and corporate executives.

In the Black case, the court found that the jury was given flawed instructions because it allowed jurors to convict on honest-services fraud.

Now, the federal appeals court must decide whether the instructions were harmless error or serious enough to vacate his conviction. The appeals court in the meantime granted bond to Black on Monday.

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