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<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#403838"><strong>Former Green Beret and his son who helped ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn flee Japan while he was awaiting trial are sentenced to prison in Tokyo </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#403838"><strong>American father and son Michael Taylor, 60, and his son Peter, 28, from Massachusetts were accused of helping fugitive Carlos Ghosn jump bail in Japan in Dec 2019, along with a third man still at large </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#403838"><strong>The pair earlier this month admitted to the Japanese court that they smuggled the former Nissan CEO out of Japan to Turkey aboard a private jet, in an audio-equipment case</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#403838"><strong>Michael Taylor was sentenced to two years in prison and Peter Taylor was sentenced to one years and eight mont</strong>hs</h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#403838"><strong>The pair who were facing up to three years in a Japanese prison, during their trial apologized, claiming they had been misled by Carlos Ghosn [photo] about Japan&#8217;s criminal justice system</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#403838"><strong>The judge said investigations showed the pair were motivated by financial gain from the $1.3M contract to aid the fugitive escape </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#403838"><strong>Ghosn is a fugitive living in Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan</strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Michael-Taylor-right-and-his-son-Peter-Taylor-left-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-384939" width="841" height="761"/><figcaption><strong> Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor [right], was sentenced to two years in prison, while his son Peter Taylor [left], was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison after both admitted to helping a fugitive jump bail from Japan on a private plane, packed inside a speaker box</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A former Green Beret and his son who smuggled fugitive Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a speaker box while he was awaiting trial have been sentenced to a combined 44 months in prison in Tokyo. <br>Michael Taylor, 60, and his 28-year-old son Peter Taylor were extradited by US authorities after being accused of orchestrating Ghosn&#8217;s audacious escape. <br>The US Army Special Forces veteran was sentenced to two years in prison, while Peter was sentenced to one year and eight months. <br>The pair had pleaded guilty to charges that, in December 2019, they illegally helped Ghosn escape from western Japan&#8217;s Kansai airport hidden in a speaker box aboard a private jet via Turkey to Lebanon where there is no extradition treaty with Japan. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Michael-Taylor-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-384940" width="840" height="558"/><figcaption><strong>Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor were extradited by US authorities after being accused of orchestrating audacious escape of embattled Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn [photo] fr<strong>om Japan in Dec 2019</strong>. The jet setting CEO on trial for financial crimes, was out on bail when he fled Japan</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In handing down the sentencing, Chief Judge Hideo Nirei said they had committed a serious violation of the law, as now there is next to no chance of putting Ghosn on trial because he is living in Lebanon, which does not have an extradition treaty with Japan. <br>&#8216;This case enabled Ghosn, a defendant of a serious crime, to escape overseas,&#8217; he said.<br>Although the defense argued the two had been merely used by Ghosn, they clearly were involved, regardless of who was making the decisions, he said. <br><strong>Related Articles: </strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://konniemoments.com/2021/03/22/american-father-and-his-son-who-smuggled-fugitive-ex-nissan-boss-carlos-ghosn-out-of-japan-in-a-speaker-box-face-up-to-three-years-in-jail-as-they-are-charged-in-tokyo/"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Michael-Taylor-and-his-son-Peter-left-accused-of-helping-former-Nissan-boss-Carlos-Ghosn-right-jump-bail-1.jpg?resize=174%2C131&;ssl=1" alt=""/></a><figcaption><a href="https://konniemoments.com/2021/03/22/american-father-and-his-son-who-smuggled-fugitive-ex-nissan-boss-carlos-ghosn-out-of-japan-in-a-speaker-box-face-up-to-three-years-in-jail-as-they-are-charged-in-tokyo/">American father and son Michael and Peter Taylor have been accused of helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn jump bail in Japan The Taylors face a single charge of helping a [&#8230;]</a></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">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 could not expect a fair trial in Japan.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Carlos-Ghosn-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-384956"/><figcaption><strong>During their trial the Taylors apologized, claiming they had been misled by Carlos Ghosn [photo] about Japan&#8217;s criminal justice system. The court said investigations showed the pair were motivated by financial gain from the $1.3M contract to aid the fugitive who was on trial for financial fraud against his employer as well as the Japanese tax authorities</strong></figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Michael-Taylor-left-and-his-son-Peter-Taylor-right-3.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-384958"/><figcaption><strong><strong>Michael Taylor [left], and his son Peter [right],were arrested in Massachusetts in May 2020 and extradited to Japan in March</strong>. The elder Taylor sobbing, told the court that he was &#8216;broke,&#8217; denying they had benefited monetarily because the $1.3 million Ghosn paid them just covered expenses</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">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&#8217;s criminal justice system. <br>Michael Taylor sobbed and said he was &#8216;broke,&#8217; denying they had benefited monetarily because the $1.3 million prosecutors said Ghosn paid them just covered expenses. However, Judge Nirei stated that the court found that the motive was money. <br>The Taylors can appeal within two weeks, he said.<br>The father and son, both wearing dark suits and flanked by guards, stood before the court in silence.<br>Michael Taylor had begged the judge to allow him to return to the U.S. to see his disabled father<br>He also told the court regretted helping Ghosn flee Japan and said the former Nissan chairman should have stayed to face trial for alleged financial misconduct. <br>&#8216;I deeply regret my actions and sincerely apologize for causing difficulties for the judicial system and for the Japanese people,&#8217; he said in a quavering voice.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Michael-Taylor-and-Peter-Taylor-smuggled-Carlos-Ghosn-out-of-Japan-to-Lebanon-aboard-a-private-jet-hidden-in-a-speaker-box.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-384945" width="836" height="464"/><figcaption><strong>Michael Taylor and Peter Taylor smuggled Carlos Ghosn out of Japan to Lebanon, aboard a private jet, hidden in a speaker box</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Taylor father and son admitted earlier this month, in a Japanese court, that they hey illegally helped Ghosn escape from western Japan&#8217;s Kansai airport hidden in a speaker box aboard a private jet to Lebanon. <br>The daring escape orchestrated by Michael Taylor and his son Peter in December 2019, had Michael Taylor fly into Osaka on a chartered jet that day with another man, George-Antoine Zayek, carrying two large black boxes and pretending to be musicians with audio equipment, authorities said. <br>Meanwhile, Ghosn, who was free on bail, headed to the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo and met up with Peter Taylor, who was already in Japan, authorities say.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-video wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-videopress wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe title="VideoPress Video Player" aria-label='VideoPress Video Player' width='620' height='348' src='https://videopress.com/embed/JxylYHK5?preloadContent=metadata&;hd=0&;cover=1' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen allow='clipboard-write'></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1674852142'></script>
</div><figcaption> <strong>Turkey released airport CCTV of alleged Ghosn accomplices. Michael Taylor and son Peter admitted smuggling Ghosn out of Japan</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The elder Taylor and Zayek met up with the two other people at the Grand Hyatt and shortly after, they split up.<br>Peter Taylor hopped on a flight to China while the others got on a bullet train and went back to another hotel near the airport in Osaka where Taylor and Zayek had booked a room. They all went in; only Ghosn&#8217;s rescuers were seen walking out.<br>&#8216;There were dozens of people in the carriage, but I was wearing a cap, a facemask and sunglasses. You&#8217;d have had to be a real expert to recognize me under all that,&#8217; Ghosn wrote in a book published last year. <br>Authorities say Ghosn was inside one of the big black boxes that had air holes punched in it so he could breathe. At the airport, the boxes passed through a security checkpoint without being checked and were loaded onto a private jet headed for Turkey, officials said.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-video wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-videopress wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe title="VideoPress Video Player" aria-label='VideoPress Video Player' width='620' height='347' src='https://videopress.com/embed/Lv9S3pBr?preloadContent=metadata&;hd=0&;cover=1' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen allow='clipboard-write'></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1674852142'></script>
</div><figcaption><strong>Security camera footage shows Michael Taylor and his third accomplice, George-Antoine Zayek at passport control at Istanbul Airport in Turkey in December 2019</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Ghosn told the BBC recently about the experience, describing the half-hour in the box waiting for the plane to take off as &#8216;probably the longest wait I&#8217;ve ever experienced in my life&#8217;. <br>During his trial Michael Taylor replied yes when the prosecutor asked whether he believed Ghosn should have stayed in Japan. <br>Many Japanese trials last for months, if not years, but the Taylors&#8217; defense attorney Keiji Isaji successfully sought a speedy trial.<br>The maximum penalty in Japan for aiding a criminal is three years in prison. Prosecutors had demanded a sentence of of two years and 10 months for Michael Taylor and two years and six months for his son. With the defense arguing that the pair should receive suspended sentences after spending 10 months in custody in the U.S. before their extradition.<br>Judge Nirei turned the defense request stating that the time they were held before and during trial would not count as time served. <br>Those periods were not directly related and should be treated differently, &#8216;there is a limit to how much we can consider,&#8217; the judge said.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Michael-Taylor-center-and-George-Antoine-Zayek-backat-passport-control-in-Istanbul-Turkey-in-Dec-2019.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-384911" width="842" height="544"/><figcaption> <strong>Turkey releases airport CCTV of alleged Ghosn accomplices. This still from security camera footage shows Michael Taylor, [center], and George-Antoine Zayek [back],at passport control in Istanbul, Turkey in Dec 2019</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Michael Taylor, a private security specialist from Massachusetts who in the past was hired by parents to rescue abducted children, told the court a cousin of Ghosn, who is his wife&#8217;s sister in law, helped persuade him to take the job. <br>He also said he felt sympathy for Ghosn and his wife Carole after they told him that Ghosn could be held in Japan for up to 15 years.<br>Furthermore, the couple told him jumping bail in Japan was not a crime, Taylor told the court.<br>The Taylors&#8217; US lawyers waged a months-long battle to prevent their extradition, arguing they could not be prosecuted for helping someone &#8216;bail jump&#8217; and that they could face relentless interrogation and torture. <br>Father and son, who had been locked up at a suburban Boston jail since their arrest in May, had failed to convince US officials and courts to block their extradition to Japan. <br>At the time of his escape, Ghosn was out on bail while awaiting trial on charges, which he denies, that he understated his compensation in Nissan&#8217;s financial statements by 9.3 billion yen ($84 million) over a decade and enriched himself at his employer&#8217;s expense through payments to car dealerships. <br>Ghosn has denied all charges. With the aid of the Taylors he managed to slip past authorities onto a private jet, transit in Turkey and land in Lebanon. <br>The escape was hugely embarrassing for Japanese authorities, who termed it &#8216;one of the most brazen and well-orchestrated escape acts in recent history&#8217;. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Michael-Taylor-right-and-his-son-Peter-Taylor-left-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-384947" width="845" height="1026"/><figcaption><strong>US Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor (right with his son Peter when he was much younger) said said he regretted helping Ghosn flee Japan and said the former Nissan chairman should have stayed to face trial for alleged financial misconduct</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Ghosn denies wrongdoing and remains a fugitive in his childhood home, Lebanon, where he was questioned last month by French investigators over a series of alleged financial improprieties. <br>Among the allegations are improper financial interactions with Renault-Nissan&#8217;s distributor in Oman, payments by a Dutch subsidiary to consultants and lavish parties organized at the Palace of Versailles. <br>The questioning took place with his defense team and a Lebanese prosecutor present. Ghosn was heard as a witness as he would need to be in France to be formally indicted. US judge allows extradition of Green Beret who help Ghosn escape Japan.<br>Others involved in the Ghosn case have faced legal proceedings, including his former aide at Nissan, Greg Kelly, who is also on trial in Tokyo for his alleged role in underreporting the tycoon&#8217;s income. He also denies the charges.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Greg-Kelly-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-384950"/><figcaption><strong>Greg Kelly, a former Nissan executive charged with helping former CEO Carlos Ghosn hide his compensation, is also standing trial in Tokyo. Kelly, seen arriving for the first trial hearing at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo, on Sept. 15, 2020, also denies the charges</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A verdict in Kelly&#8217;s trial, which began in September last year, is not expected until next year. More than 99 per cent of Japanese criminal trials result in convictions. Upon conviction, the charges Kelly faces carry the maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison. <br>Ghosn switched planes in Turkey on his way to Lebanon, and the three Turkish nationals were charged with involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle a migrant. A court in Turkey has sentenced the two pilots and another employee of a small private airline to four years and two months in prison for their role in the Ghosn escape.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Michael-Taylor-2.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Michael-Taylor-2.jpg" width="845" height="681"/><figcaption><strong>This is not the first time Michael Taylor, [seen in a 2012 mugshot on unrelated charges], has had brushes with the law. He spent 14 moths in jal jail before agreeing to plead guilty to two charges of using illegally obtained information to win DOD contract in Afghanistan</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Over the years, Michael Taylor has been hired by parents to rescue abducted children, gone undercover for the FBI in a sting on a Massachusetts drug gang and worked as a contractor for the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. And this isn&#8217;t the first time he has found himself in legal trouble.<br>In 2012, federal prosecutors alleged Taylor had won a US military contract to train Afghan soldiers by using secret information passed along from an American officer. <br>When Taylor learned the contract was being investigated, he asked an FBI agent and friend to intervene, prosecutors charged. Taylor spent 14 months in jail before agreeing to plead guilty to two counts.</p>

