Father and Son Accused of Helping Carlos Ghosn Escape Are in Japanese Custody

Dozens of Japanese reporters and television crews descended on Narita International Airport outside Tokyo as the Japan Airlines flight carrying the Taylors arrived from Boston. Security personnel put up a gray sheet to prevent them from being photographed.

The Taylors fought a nine-month legal battle to avoid deportation, which ended after an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was rejected.

Japanese prosecutors said the Taylors were arrested before their arrival in Tokyo on suspicion of aiding the escape of a criminal, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of three years.

Repeating allegations made in an arrest warrant last year, prosecutors said that on Dec. 29, 2019, the Taylors helped guide Mr. Ghosn and his luggage from his Tokyo house to a Tokyo hotel and then on a 300-mile trip to Osaka’s international airport.

At the airport, Mr. Ghosn was smuggled aboard a private jet in Michael Taylor’s luggage, authorities said. Mr. Ghosn stopped over in Turkey and then flew to Beirut, where he now lives.

Peter Taylor met Mr. Ghosn at a Tokyo hotel on the day of the escape, as well as on earlier occasions in 2019 and helped with arrangements, according to Japanese authorities.

The Taylors haven’t denied helping Mr. Ghosn escape, but they say they don’t think they committed any crimes under Japanese law. Mr. Ghosn, who was facing trial on charges of financial crimes, has said he is innocent and left Japan because he didn’t think he could get a fair trial.

As criminal suspects in Japan, the Taylors will be afforded fewer rights than they would have in the U.S. when it comes to questioning and legal counsel. After their arrest, they can be held for about three weeks for questioning before any charges are filed, and they have no right to have their lawyers present during the interrogations, which can last for many hours each day.

If they are indicted, the Taylors are unlikely to be released on bail pending trial because of their involvement in the escape of Mr. Ghosn, who was released on bail and living in a Tokyo house before his flight from Japan. Prosecutors win more than 99% of criminal cases in Japan, and nearly 90% of criminal defendants confess to wrongdoing, according to official statistics. Japanese officials have said the conviction rate is the result of prosecutors pursuing only cases they are sure they can win.

While Mr. Ghosn is living freely, some of those who helped him aren’t.

Mr. Ghosn’s co-defendant, former Nissan executive Greg Kelly, is on trial in Japan over charges that he hid plans to pay Mr. Ghosn additional money, which prosecutors say should have been disclosed to shareholders. Mr. Kelly says he is innocent.

On Feb. 24, a court in Turkey convicted three Turkish nationals of migrant smuggling for their roles in Mr. Ghosn’s escape. Two pilots who flew the private jet carrying Mr. Ghosn to Turkey from Japan and a manager of the jet service were given suspended prison sentences of four years and two months. Lawyers for the three men said they maintained their innocence and would appeal.

The Taylors had been in a county jail outside Boston since their arrest in May by U.S. authorities who acted on a request from Japan.

At the U.S. jail, the Taylors exercised in a communal concrete yard and could meet one another. In Japan, officials said accused accomplices in a crime generally aren’t allowed to see each other in jail or communicate.

The Tokyo detention center typically allows 30 minutes of exercise daily in a walled exercise room. Detainees are discouraged from lying down in their cells during the day, which jail officials say makes it easier to monitor inmate health. Cells have straw tatami mats and futons for beds, and the lights are kept on 24 hours a day so guards can check on inmates more easily.

Rudy Taylor, who is Michael Taylor’s son and Peter’s brother, said Monday on Twitter that, “The extradition is official.” He said the pair were denied warm clothing and that the “U.S. Government is a disgrace.” A U.S. Justice Department official said Japan has informed the U.S. it would see that the Taylors are adequately clothed.

Write to Sean McLain at [email protected] and Mark Maremont at [email protected]