September 13, 2006, 6:24 PM EDT
MIAMI -- The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor told a federal judge Wednesday that he will plead guilty to charges of lying about his father's true identity on a passport used to enter the United States.
A second hearing was scheduled for Friday for Charles McArthur Emmanuel, also known as Charles "Chuckie" Taylor Jr., to formally enter the plea. The passport fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
Emmanuel, 29, was arrested March 30 at Miami International Airport shortly after arriving on a flight from Trinidad and a day after his father was apprehended in Africa on U.N. charges of atrocities during neighboring Sierra Leone's civil war.
Emmanuel's court-appointed attorney and the prosecutor declined to comment.
It was unclear whether he might face war crimes and torture charges based on his role in Taylor's regime. Taylor was president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-taylors-son-arrested,0,212049.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines