Carlos Ghosn’s Escape Planner Says He Would Do It Again

“I’d do it again every day of the week and twice on Sunday,” Mr. Taylor said. “Anyone who’s forced to undergo those conditions for a nonviolent offense quite frankly totally deserves to escape.”

Mr. Taylor recently completed a 14-month term in a prison south of Tokyo for his role in the December 2019 escape of Mr. Ghosn, who now lives as an international fugitive in Lebanon. Before his escape, Mr. Ghosn had been living in Tokyo free on bail.

Mr. Taylor said that after he arrived in the U.S. and was released, he was suffering from vitamin D deficiency because he spent a total of fewer than 15 hours outside during his prison term. The 29-year-old said he had lost around 40 pounds and walked with a limp because of a toe infection that he said prison medical staff wouldn’t treat.

A representative of Japan’s Ministry of Justice declined to comment on Mr. Taylor’s case.

The ministry is dealing with a separate prison issue it disclosed this past Friday, in which it said guards in Nagoya slapped prisoners and sprayed alcohol in their faces. It said an outside commission would review prison conditions.

An official in the ministry’s Correction Bureau, Takao Hosokawa, said the government was chastened by the scandal and training on human rights was likely inadequate. However, he said Japan would stick to its basic stance that prisons are a place for tough treatment and strict discipline, which he said might be harsher than in foreign prisons.

In March 2021, Peter and his father,

Michael Taylor,

were extradited to Japan to face trial. Both prosecutors and the Taylors said the father arranged Mr. Ghosn’s concealment and escape, while Peter played a lesser role that included helping deal with Mr. Ghosn’s luggage. Michael Taylor, who also completed his sentence in November, declined to be interviewed.

Mr. Ghosn was charged in Japan with financial misconduct, for which he faced a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. France has also issued a warrant for his arrest. A representative for Mr. Ghosn didn’t respond to requests for comment. In 2020, Mr. Ghosn supported the Taylors in their unsuccessful bid to avoid extradition to Japan, saying he didn’t want them to experience the same treatment he received in Japanese custody.

At their trial, the Taylors apologized for helping Mr. Ghosn escape. They said they believed that the Japanese justice system treated people fairly.

“I take full responsibility and deeply apologize,” Peter Taylor said in June 2021, bowing before the judges.

Mr. Taylor now says he didn’t mean it.

“I can tell you now the statements in court were just a total sham,” Mr. Taylor said. He said his lawyers advised him that pleading guilty and apologizing profusely would be the only way to get a lighter sentence.

“I was told it’s basically just a dance,” he said.

Mr. Taylor was convicted in July 2021 and sent the next month to serve his sentence at a prison in Yokohama. He said he was placed immediately in solitary confinement and prison staff wouldn’t let him have books or a bedsheet.

“I was just stuck in a cinder block room on the floor with absolutely nothing,” he said. “The conditions that I was subjected to absolutely meet the burden of torture, there’s no doubt about it.”

When he asked why his things were confiscated, he said he was told by an intake officer that it was because his “crime attracted the attention of the country.”

Mr. Taylor said he threatened to go on a hunger strike. After a week, his books were given back and he was later allowed to spend some hours working at a printing press.

He still spent weekends, holidays and most of his days in solitary confinement. Inside his cell he would read, sitting bolt upright on the floor. Slouching and pacing weren’t allowed. One of the books he read was “Prisoner,” the memoir of journalist Jason Rezaian, who was held in a prison in Iran for 18 months. Mr. Taylor said he felt jealous when he read that Mr. Rezaian was frequently allowed outside.

In the winter months, Mr. Taylor said he held a book with one hand while sitting on the other and then rotated his hands to prevent frostbite. This past summer, a steamy one as usual in the Tokyo area, he said prisoners were locked in their cells because of a Covid outbreak without fans or air conditioning. He said he went more than 30 days without a shower.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo helped with a few issues but generally couldn’t do much, Mr. Taylor said.

The embassy declined to comment on Mr. Taylor’s case, but a representative said U.S. officials “have long expressed concern to Japanese authorities about inadequate heating in prisons and detention centers.”

Koichi Hamai, a former corrections officer who is now a professor at Ryukoku University, said guards tend to rigidly enforce rules, fearing public criticism if there is any disorder in prisons. He said staff tended to play down medical complaints because some prisoners invent ailments so they can get a break from work or, in winter, warm up in the infirmary.

“The biggest reason” for harsh treatment “is probably because that’s what the public wants,” Mr. Hamai said.

After 20 months in Japan, Mr. Taylor and his father were transferred back to the U.S. in October and released shortly thereafter. The younger Mr. Taylor spent several weeks at home in Massachusetts and later headed to Lebanon, his mother’s home country, to take care of paperwork related to his residency there.

He said he was focused on regaining his health and spending time with family. He said he hasn’t heard from Mr. Ghosn since getting out of prison but it doesn’t bother him.

“Once you conquer Japanese solitary confinement, there’s not a lot that’s ever going to faze you in life,” Mr. Taylor said.

—Chieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article.

Write to River Davis at [email protected]

“I’d do it again every day of the week and twice on Sunday,” Mr. Taylor said. “Anyone who’s forced to undergo those conditions for a nonviolent offense quite frankly totally deserves to escape.”

Mr. Taylor recently completed a 14-month term in a prison south of Tokyo for his role in the December 2019 escape of Mr. Ghosn, who now lives as an international fugitive in Lebanon. Before his escape, Mr. Ghosn had been living in Tokyo free on bail.

Mr. Taylor said that after he arrived in the U.S. and was released, he was suffering from vitamin D deficiency because he spent a total of fewer than 15 hours outside during his prison term. The 29-year-old said he had lost around 40 pounds and walked with a limp because of a toe infection that he said prison medical staff wouldn’t treat.

A representative of Japan’s Ministry of Justice declined to comment on Mr. Taylor’s case.

The ministry is dealing with a separate prison issue it disclosed this past Friday, in which it said guards in Nagoya slapped prisoners and sprayed alcohol in their faces. It said an outside commission would review prison conditions.

An official in the ministry’s Correction Bureau, Takao Hosokawa, said the government was chastened by the scandal and training on human rights was likely inadequate. However, he said Japan would stick to its basic stance that prisons are a place for tough treatment and strict discipline, which he said might be harsher than in foreign prisons.

In March 2021, Peter and his father,

Michael Taylor,

were extradited to Japan to face trial. Both prosecutors and the Taylors said the father arranged Mr. Ghosn’s concealment and escape, while Peter played a lesser role that included helping deal with Mr. Ghosn’s luggage. Michael Taylor, who also completed his sentence in November, declined to be interviewed.

Mr. Ghosn was charged in Japan with financial misconduct, for which he faced a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. France has also issued a warrant for his arrest. A representative for Mr. Ghosn didn’t respond to requests for comment. In 2020, Mr. Ghosn supported the Taylors in their unsuccessful bid to avoid extradition to Japan, saying he didn’t want them to experience the same treatment he received in Japanese custody.

At their trial, the Taylors apologized for helping Mr. Ghosn escape. They said they believed that the Japanese justice system treated people fairly.

“I take full responsibility and deeply apologize,” Peter Taylor said in June 2021, bowing before the judges.

Mr. Taylor now says he didn’t mean it.

“I can tell you now the statements in court were just a total sham,” Mr. Taylor said. He said his lawyers advised him that pleading guilty and apologizing profusely would be the only way to get a lighter sentence.

“I was told it’s basically just a dance,” he said.

Mr. Taylor was convicted in July 2021 and sent the next month to serve his sentence at a prison in Yokohama. He said he was placed immediately in solitary confinement and prison staff wouldn’t let him have books or a bedsheet.

“I was just stuck in a cinder block room on the floor with absolutely nothing,” he said. “The conditions that I was subjected to absolutely meet the burden of torture, there’s no doubt about it.”

When he asked why his things were confiscated, he said he was told by an intake officer that it was because his “crime attracted the attention of the country.”

Mr. Taylor said he threatened to go on a hunger strike. After a week, his books were given back and he was later allowed to spend some hours working at a printing press.

He still spent weekends, holidays and most of his days in solitary confinement. Inside his cell he would read, sitting bolt upright on the floor. Slouching and pacing weren’t allowed. One of the books he read was “Prisoner,” the memoir of journalist Jason Rezaian, who was held in a prison in Iran for 18 months. Mr. Taylor said he felt jealous when he read that Mr. Rezaian was frequently allowed outside.

In the winter months, Mr. Taylor said he held a book with one hand while sitting on the other and then rotated his hands to prevent frostbite. This past summer, a steamy one as usual in the Tokyo area, he said prisoners were locked in their cells because of a Covid outbreak without fans or air conditioning. He said he went more than 30 days without a shower.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo helped with a few issues but generally couldn’t do much, Mr. Taylor said.

The embassy declined to comment on Mr. Taylor’s case, but a representative said U.S. officials “have long expressed concern to Japanese authorities about inadequate heating in prisons and detention centers.”

Koichi Hamai, a former corrections officer who is now a professor at Ryukoku University, said guards tend to rigidly enforce rules, fearing public criticism if there is any disorder in prisons. He said staff tended to play down medical complaints because some prisoners invent ailments so they can get a break from work or, in winter, warm up in the infirmary.

“The biggest reason” for harsh treatment “is probably because that’s what the public wants,” Mr. Hamai said.

After 20 months in Japan, Mr. Taylor and his father were transferred back to the U.S. in October and released shortly thereafter. The younger Mr. Taylor spent several weeks at home in Massachusetts and later headed to Lebanon, his mother’s home country, to take care of paperwork related to his residency there.

He said he was focused on regaining his health and spending time with family. He said he hasn’t heard from Mr. Ghosn since getting out of prison but it doesn’t bother him.

“Once you conquer Japanese solitary confinement, there’s not a lot that’s ever going to faze you in life,” Mr. Taylor said.

—Chieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article.

Write to River Davis at [email protected]