The two Americans who helped Carlos Ghosn escape from Japan have been convicted by a Tokyo court.
U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor has been sentenced to two years in prison, while his son, Peter Taylor, has been sentenced to one year and eight months, for orchestrating the daring escape of Ghosn.
The Taylors pleaded guilty to charges last month, claiming that they regretted their role in smuggling Ghosn out of Japan. They were initially arrested in Massachusetts in May 2020 for their role in the escape and were extradited to Japan in March this year.
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ABC News reports that Michael Taylor sobbed during court hearings in Japan, claiming that he had not benefited monetarily for the escape as the $1.3 million paid by Ghosn had only covered expenses. Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of two years and 10 months for Michael Taylor and two years and six months for his son while the Taylors’ defense had argued for both to get suspended sentences.
“This case enabled Ghosn, a defendant of serious crime, to escape overseas,” chief judge Hideo Nirei said during the trial. “One year and a half has passed, but there is no prospect of the trial being held.”
The Taylors, and accomplice George-Antoine Zayek, met with Carlos Ghosn on December 29, 2019 at a hotel and boarded a bullet train to Osaka. Peter Taylor then left the country while the others headed to a hotel where Ghosn was loaded into a box used for transporting audio equipment. Michael Taylor, Zayek, and Ghosn then flew on a private jet to Turkey before boarding a second jet and flying to Beirut, Lebanon where Ghosn remains with no threat of extradition.
