In a plot that had all the trappings of a Hollywood blockbuster, former Special Forces soldier Michael Taylor launched a high-risk extraction plan in late 2019 for defamed Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn, who at the time was under house arrest in Japan facing corruption charges. Also alleged to be involved in the plot was Taylor's son Peter.
The extraction went off in a spectacular fashion with Ghosn stuffed into a music speaker case with air holes drilled into it and then loaded onto a private jet that flew to Turkey before he returned to Lebanon.
However, as the Taylors involvement was reported in the press and the Japanese government faced embarrassment for Ghosn slipping right out from under their noses, the heat was turned up on Michael and Peter Taylor.
In May of 2020 the Department of Justice arrested the father and son who were now facing an extradition request from the Japanese government. Held in jail and denied bail, they were then extradited in March of 2021 and arrived at plea deals with Japanese prosecutors. After spending over a year in Japanese prisons, the Taylors have now been returned to the United States.
Connecting Vets followed this story closely from the beginning and spoke to a source close to the situation to learn about what the court and prison system were like for the pair in a country where the social system heavily relies on shame, and the conviction rate is over 99%.
Knowing they would languish in prison indefinitely if they didn't accept a plea deal, Michael was sentenced to two years, and Peter to 18 months. Peter was placed in Yokohama prison and Michael in Fuchu prison, both in Tokyo.
Peter spent 12 months in solitary confinement in an unheated cell in which the lights were never turned off. He was permitted to write a few letters a month and had a television set in his cell that played a few hours of a Japanese channel per day. He was allowed to exercise thirty minutes a day and was only let outdoors a total of seven hours during the duration of his confinement.
Michael had it only slightly better at Fuchu as he had a bed (Peter had to sleep on the floor) and there was an English language channel on his television.
The Japanese mentality is to make prison life so tough that no one would ever take the risk of going back by committing another crime.
The Taylors were sent back home at the request of the United States government (who had extradited them) as they should have been released considering the time they served in an American jail prior to their arrival in Japan. While Peter has been released to his family, Michael remains in an American prison while a new political fight unfolds between the U.S. and Japanese governments over whether the time served previous to their sentencing should be considered.
In a worst-case scenario, Michael will be reunited with his family in early 2023, in January.
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