Conrad Black was on Thursday allowed to remain free on a $21m (£10m) bond until his sentencing on fraud and obstruction of justice convictions that could see him jailed for more than 10 years.

Judge Amy St Eve required the former press baron to stay within the northern district of Illinois or the area surrounding his home in Palm Beach.

She again rejected a government request that he be placed in custody, saying she did not believe Lord Black – who renounced his Canadian citizenship to become a British peer – was going “to run and hide”.

“That would be inconsistent with everything that I’ve seen and heard during the course of this trial. My concern is that he would decide to fight coming back [from Canada],” said Ms St Eve.

Lord Black will be sentenced on November 30. Another hearing has been set for August 1 to give his defence time to provide information on any additional assets that could be pledged for his bail, as well as to clarify the extradition procedure with Canada.

His counsel conceded there was no legal process to provide certainty under Canadian law that he would be extradited from Canada, should he attempt to challenge his conviction.

Eric Sussman, the chief US prosecutor, contended that the only thing a call to Canadian officials would generate was “a pizza”.

The judge expressed concern that any extradition process could be long, but said she would explore a defence team proposal that Lord Black surrender his passport to Canadian border authorities.

Lord Black’s lawyers were asked to explore an amendment to a Canadian court order secured by Hollinger Inc – which is pursuing a civil suit against the peer – which freezes his assets.

His legal team said this was unlikely to be forthcoming, and the lack of transparency surrounding his finances could hinder any effort by the judge to increase his bail.

It was revealed that Lord Black was paying $133,000 a month on mortgage payments and on his $32m Palm Beach estate. Prosecutors had argued he had failed to keep up payments on the property, which is part of his bond security.