INSIDE THE BOX

American Father and Son Plead Guilty to Helping Carlos Ghosn Escape Japan

Father and son team helped the Nissan boss flee the courts.

An American father and son pleaded guilty in a Tokyo court Monday to helping the former Nissan Motor Co. boss Carlos Ghosn escape criminal charges in Japan in December 2019. Michael Taylor, 60, a former U.S. Green Beret, and his son Michael, 28, replied simply “No” when a judge asked if there was any problem with the charges laid against them by prosecutors, which carry a maximum three-year prison term. The two men helped spirit Ghosn, who had been accused of corruption, out of Tokyo on a private jet hidden in a large black box usually used to transport concert equipment. The two men were arrested in Massachusetts in May, 2020, and unsuccessfully fought extradition. Ghosn himself, who now lives in his native Lebanon, had complained about Japan's “hostage justice” system in which accused people are held and interrogated for long periods without access to lawyers. Japan has a 99-percent conviction rate.