Sentences issued in escape of executive
TOKYO — A Tokyo court handed down prison terms Monday for the American father and son accused of helping Nissan’s former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, escape to Lebanon while awaiting trial in Japan.
Michael Taylor was sentenced to two years in prison, while his son Peter was sentenced to one year and eight months. They were charged with aiding a criminal in the December 2019 escape of Ghosn, who hid in a box that was flown on a private jet via Turkey to Lebanon. Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan.
In handing down the sentencing, Chief Judge Hideo Nirei said the men had committed a grave violation, as now there is next to no chance of putting Ghosn on trial. “This case enabled Ghosn, a defendant of a serious crime, to escape overseas,” he said.
Ghosn was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on charges of underreporting his compensation and of breach of trust in using Nissan Motor Co. money for personal gain. He says he is innocent, and he left because he says he cannot get a fair trial in Japan.
The Taylors were arrested in Massachusetts in May 2020 and extradited to Japan in March. During their trial they apologized, saying they had been misled by Ghosn about Japan’s criminal justice system. Michael Taylor sobbed and said he was “broke,” denying they had benefited monetarily because the $1.3 million prosecutors said Ghosn paid them just covered expenses.
The father and son, both wearing dark suits and flanked by guards, stood before the court in silence.
The maximum penalty in Japan for helping a criminal is three years in prison. Prosecutors had demanded a sentence of two years and 10 months for Michael Taylor and two years and six months for his son. The Taylors’ defense had argued for suspended sentences for the two, who spent 10 months in custody in the U.S. before their extradition.
In December 2019, Ghosn left his home in Tokyo and took a bullet train to Osaka. At a hotel there, he hid in a big box supposedly containing audio equipment, that had air holes punched in it so he could breathe, according to prosecutors.
Separately, Greg Kelly, a former top Nissan executive, is on trial on charges of falsifying securities reports on Ghosn’s compensation. Kelly also says he is innocent.