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By the associated press
A U.S. justice of the peace unfairly rejected the release of a wanted father and son in Japan for helping evacuate former Nissan Motor Co. President Carlos Ghosn of the country, his lawyers said Tuesday.
Michael and Peter Taylor’s lawyers suggested that U.S. district judge Indira Talwani release the men on bail without delay. His lawyers insisted that the Taylors did not aim to flee the United States while fighting for extradition to Japan, noting that the men had returned to Massachusetts from Lebanon last year, even though they knew Japan was seeking arrest.
“If he manages to escape, he faces exile, confronts the fugitive,” attorney James Ulwick said of Peter Taylor. “Where would I go?
The Taylors have been locked up in a Massachusetts criminal since his arrest in May. Trial judge Donald Cabell denied them bail earlier this month, posed a flight risk.
Japan is asking the United States to hand over Michael Taylor, a veteran of the U.S. Army Special Forces. 59, and his son Peter Taylor, 27, on trial for smuggling Ghosn out of the country last year. while on bail and awaiting trial on allegations of monetary misconduct.
Bank documents show that Ghosn stressed more than $860,000 to a Peter Taylor-linked company in October 2019, prosecutors said in court documents. Ghosn’s son also made cryptocurrency bills totaling $500,000 to Peter Taylor in the first five months of this year, according to prosecutors.
US Deputy Prosecutor Stephen Hassink said the Taylors were asking the court not to disappear while Japan tried to extradite them, while their movements in Ghosn’s case showed a general rule of law.
They are accused “of entering Japan with the sole aim of helping a billionaire accused of monetary crimes, Carlos Ghosn, evade prosecution,” Hassink said.
“Their efforts took months of planning, millions of dollars and attracted the world’s attention. Despite these facts, the Taylors are asking this court to accept as true with them,” he said.
Talwani seemed skeptical about the Taylors’ argument for their release. He noted that the component of his defense opposed to extradition is that Ghosn’s movements of bail are not a crime in Japan, and helping someone escape while on bail is also not a crime.
“It’s hard to equate this with the concept that bail here would be something that would be respected,” the ruling said.
Talwani made a resolution at Tuesday’s hearing, but said he would have a “soon.”
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