Japanese justice sentenced to prison two Americans who helped in the film escape of Carlos Ghosn

The two Americans accused of helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn escape Japan while on bail pending trial were found guilty on Monday and sentenced to prison terms.

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Green Beret Michael Taylor, 60, to two years in prison and his son Peter, 28, to one year and eight months. as collected by the local agency Kyodo.

Both defendants pleaded guilty and apologized for their role in the auto tycoon’s escape and their defense requested a stay of the sentence.

In Japan, those who plead guilty are also tried, but collaboration with the prosecution can result in lesser sentences or suspended sentences, without imprisonment.

According to the indictment filed by the Japanese prosecution, the Taylors helped Ghosn escape his residence in Tokyo while on bail and move to Osaka (west) on December 29, 2019 from where he would take a clandestine flight.

Ghosn was hidden in an instrument case which bypassed airport controls by taking advantage of a breach in the system and was transferred to a private plane that took him to Lebanon stop over in Turkey, despite the manager’s ban on leaving the archipelago under the conditions of his release on bail.

The businessman, who has triple nationality (French, Brazilian and Lebanese), remains in Beirut, which does not have an extradition treaty with Japan.

Father and son were extradited to the Asian country in March this year, after being arrested at the request of the Japanese prosecutor in May 2020 in Massachusetts (US) and the US Supreme Court dismissed their appeal.

The Taylors were held by Japanese authorities in the same Tokyo detention center where Ghosn spent more than 100 days. before your release on bail.

The magnate and former president of Nissan, the French Renault and his alliance, was arrested in Japan in November 2018 for financial irregularities and breach of trust.

Ghosn, who was called to testify in Lebanon following the publication of a red Interpol circular at the request of Japan, denied the charges and claimed to have been the victim of a plot orchestrated by the Japanese automaker to put it aside during negotiations. give more power to your Gallic partner in the alliance.

(With information from EFE)

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