The jury in the racketeering and fraud trial of fallen media tycoon Conrad Black sent a note to the judge Tuesday during their ninth day of deliberations saying they are unable to reach a verdict and asking for advice.

At one time, the Chicago-based Hollinger International, of which Black was founder and CEO, ranked as one of the world's largest media empires, owning hundreds of newspapers and magazines in the United States, Britain, Canada and Israel, including the Jerusalem Post.

The juror's note, read to the court by United States District Judge Amy St. Eve said "we have discussed and deliberated on all the evidence and are still unable to reach a unanimous verdict on one or more counts. Please advise."

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The note was signed by the jury foreperson and ended with "P.S. We have read the jury instructions very carefully."

Black is accused of swindling shareholders in the Hollinger International Inc. newspaper empire out of more than $60 million. He faces more 13 criminal counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud and racketeering.

The trial, which included three other defendants, began March 20.

Black, 62, a member of the British House of Lords, faces a maximum penalty of 101 years in federal prison if convicted on all counts, although lawyers said a sentence anywhere near that stiff was unrealistic.

Prosecutors accused Black of billing shareholders $42,000 for his wife's birthday party at New York's restaurant La Grenouille, swindling the company in a $3 million Park Avenue apartment sale and taking the corporate jet on a two-week vacation to Bora Bora in French Polynesia.

Black's attorneys said the bills were justified business expenses and that he paid his fair share in the apartment deal