Charles Taylor’s son sent back to jail

Charles McArthur Emmanuel, also known as Charles “Chuckie” Taylor Jr, has been held without bail since he was arrested on March 30 after he arrived on a flight from Trinidad. Prosecutors say he lied about his father’s identity on his application for a passport at the United States Embassy in Port-of-Spain.

Emmanuel, a US citizen who was head of Liberia’s Anti-Terrorist Unit during his father’s presidency, did not speak during the brief hearing yesterday.

His court-appointed lawyer, Miguel Caridad, entered the plea on his behalf.

Emmanuel was arrested on March 30 at the Miami International Airport after arriving on American Airlines flight 1668 from Trinidad. Emmanuel is a United States citizen who was born in Suffolk County, Boston, Massachusetts on February 12, 1977. His birth certificate showed his mother is Beatrice Yolanda Emmanuel, a Trinidadian who is a former girlfriend of Charles Taylor. But his father was unnamed.

In Emmanuel’s application dated March 15, 2006, he identified his father as Steven Daniel Smith, date of birth April 6, 1952, and listed Smith’s place of birth as St Vincent.

Emmanuel failed to identify Charles Taylor or stepfather Roy Belfast as his father on that application.

On March 30, 2006, a special agent interviewed Armando Armandariz, Consul General, US Embassy in Port-of-Spain. The Consul General stated that Emmanuel’s false statements were not known to his office. He said had the nature of Chuckie’s family account been known, a consular officer would not have approved his application for a passport and further investigation would have been conducted.

Travel records revealed that on July 31, 2003, Chuckie travelled on Liberian passport No 002858 from Paris, France to Trinidad through Dulles International Airport in Loudoun County, Virginia. He arrived on Air France, flight No 028 and departed for Trinidad on BWIA flight.

On March 30, 2006, Chuckie boarded American Airlines flight 1668 from Trinidad and landed in Florida where he was arrested.