Conrad Black made his biggest mistake in giving up his Canadian citizenship in order to join Britain's House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour. It means that he can he not be returned to Canada to a different prison system less harsh than the US. To be sure, his lawyers have signalled an appeal of his lenient six and a half year jail term on fraud charges to keep him from turning in his robe for an orange jumpsuit for as long as possible.

But now, the former press baron is asking the United States to extend the rights of its citizenship to him, reports the Globe and Mail.

It's a plea aimed to have the US authorities go easy on him. In a sign of desperation, his lawyers have now filed documents claiming their client has been a productive member of US society and a long-time admirer of the US. The aim is to have him incarcerated at a minimum security prison in Miami, closer to his residence at Palm Beach. That's a privilege usually denied to non-Americans.

All this from someone who has conducted a legal war against the US government and accused it of persecuting him. Such a man of the world! One of Canada's most famous businessmen, Black is currently a citizen of the United Kingdom and facing six and a half years behind bars in the US. That's on top of his biographies of two american presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Richard Nixon.