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published photo, Reuters
A Tokyo court has sentenced an American father and son to prison terms for helping former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn escape Japan in 2019.
The court sentenced Michael Taylor, a US Special Forces veteran, to two years in prison, while his son Peter was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.
The United States extradited the defendants to Japan over allegations they smuggled Ghosn out of Japan in a luggage box on a private plane while awaiting trial.
Ghosn faces another 15 years in prison if convicted, and Japanese authorities arrested him after Nissan accused him of not disclosing his actual salary and financial rights and of abusing company funds. company, which Ghosn denies.
Japanese prosecutors were asking that Michael be jailed for two years and 10 months and Peter for two years and six months.
Michael and his son were accused of organizing Ghosn’s escape to Lebanon from Kansai Airport in western Japan in December 2019, and were paid $ 1.3 million for their services.
Both defendants had previously admitted the charges against them and expressed remorse for what they had done.
Ghosn became an international fugitive living in his native Lebanon, which did not sign an extradition agreement with Japan.
The court freed him on bail while he awaited trial on four counts of financial misconduct, but he managed to escape in a private plane.
US prosecutors have described his escape as “one of the most brazen and organized escapes in recent history.”
Michael Taylor and his son Peter pose as musicians to help Carlos Ghosn escape
After arriving in Lebanon, Ghosn said he was a “hostage” in Japan and had no choice but to flee or die there.
A Turkish court has convicted an executive from Turkish aviation company MNG and two of its pilots for their role in smuggling Ghosn aboard a private jet from Japan.
Ghosn was first arrested in November 2018 for financial misconduct and non-disclosure of his actual salary and financial rights for five years until 2015.
In an exclusive interview with BBC Radio earlier this month, Ghosn shared the story of his escape and how he disguised himself and managed to escape unnoticed through the streets of Tokyo.
He also explained why he chose a large box of musical equipment to smuggle from Japan and how excited he was when he finally arrived in his native Lebanon.
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