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Two American men wanted by Japan on charges that they helped cut former Nissan Motor Co. chairman Carlos Ghosn out of the country into a box have been denied release from a U.S. prison.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani on Friday rejected a bid to release Michael Taylor, a 59-year-old veteran of the Special Army of the U.S. Army, and his 27-year-old son, Peter Taylor, on bail while fighting their extradition. to Japan. Talwani said a magistrate judge found the two men well at risk of fleeing.
EX-NISSAN BOSS POWER OF MEN HELPING HIM FLEE
“While the Taylors may be trying to stay in the United States to combat extradition through available legal channels, they have also shown blatant contempt for such protections in the context of the Japanese legal system and have not sufficiently established that if they “They will find their extradition difficult to fight for, they will not fight the rules of bail release and flee the country,” Talwani wrote.
An email was sent Saturday to an attorney for the Taylors.
NISSAN’S CARLOS GHOSN: JAPAN SHIPS US TO EXTRADIT MEN’S SHARE OF HER FREE BOSS ESCAPE
Their lawyers have said the men have no plans to flee and claim their health behind bars is in danger due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Taylors have been locked up in a Massachusetts prison since their arrest in May.
Authorities say the Taylors helped smuggle Ghosn out of a private jet from Japan while he was on bail and awaiting trial on charges of financial abuse. With the former Nissan boss hiding in a big box, the flight went first to Turkey, then to Lebanon, where Ghosn has citizenship but that has no extradition treaty with Japan.
Ghosn said he fled because he could not expect a fair trial, was negotiated in unfair circumstances in custody and was barred from satisfying his wife during his bail term. Ghosn has denied allegations that he underreported his future income and began a breach of trust by separating Nissan money for his personal gain.
The Taylors have not refused to help Ghosn escape, but claim they cannot be extradited. Among other things, they said that “bail jumping” is not a crime in Japan and that it therefore does not need to help anyone evade his bail conditions.
In a court hearing on Friday, federal prosecutors asked Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell to rule that the men could be extradited legally. The US Secretary of State will make the final decision on whether they will be handed over to Japan.
The Taylors’ alleged plot to smuggle Ghosn out of Japan was one of the most intense and well-orchestrated acts of escape in recent history, and consisted of a brilliant series of luxury hotel gatherings, fake personas, cold train journeys and the record of a private jet, ”wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Hassink.
An extradition hearing is scheduled for August 28.
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