A U.S. judge on Friday ruled two Massachusetts men can be extradited to Japan to face charges that they helped former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee from the country while he was awaiting trial on financial misconduct.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell in Boston turned down the arguments against extradition by U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, clearing the way for the U.S. State Department to consider turning them over.
Paul Kelly, the Taylors’ lawyer, said they would present concerns to the State Department that Cabell could not consider, including the “heroism and courage” of Michael Taylor and Japan’s “frequent refusal” to extradite its own citizens.
The State Department has not made any comments yet.
Prosecutors say the Taylors facilitated a “brazen” escape in which Ghosn fled Japan on December 29, 2019, hidden in a box and on a private jet before reaching Lebanon, his childhood home, which lacks an extradition treaty with Japan.
Ghosn was awaiting trial on charges that he engaged in financial misconduct, including by understating his compensation in Nissan’s financial statements. Ghosn rejected any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said the elder Taylor, a private security specialist, and his son received $1.3 million for their services. They have been held without bail since their arrests in May at Japan’s request.
Their lawyers have argued they could not be extradited because Japanese penal code does not make it a crime if someone has been helped to “bail jump,” and that they could only be charged if Japanese officials were already pursuing Ghosn pre-escape.
But Cabell refused to second-guess Japan’s interpretation of its own law as making it illegal to allowed the escape of someone who has committed a crime. He said the Taylors’ conduct “literally brings them squarely within the purview” of the law.
