Chicago: A federal appeals court on Thursday denied former newspaper baron Conrad Black's request to stay free on bond while appealing his fraud sentence and ordered him to go to prison on Monday.

Black, 62, convicted of defrauding the shareholders of his Hollinger International Inc. newspaper empire, had sought to stay free and there was a strong possibility his conviction would be reversed.

The court did allow Black's two co-defendants, Peter Y. Atkinson and John Boultbee, to remain free on bond while appealing their sentences.

Black and his co-defendants were convicted on July 13 of fraud for allegedly siphoning money out of the company and falsely claiming they were getting non-compete payments from buyers of Hollinger assets.