U.S. Exec Returns To Toyota As Adviser After 2015 Arrest In Japan

Toyota said Thursday that an American executive who quit after being jailed in Japan in 2015 on suspicion of drug law offenses has returned to the automaker, the company said, Yuri Kageyama reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Then-Toyota Chief Communications Officer, Julie Hamp speaking at a company safety seminar in 2014

Toyota Motor Corp.'s North American business has engaged Julie Hamp to help its CEO, Akio Toyoda, and to advise the company on global management, sustainability, governance, and worldwide media relations.

After arriving in Japan to lead Toyota's public relations in 2015, she was arrested on suspicion of importing the prescription narcotic oxycodone, which is strictly controlled in Japan. Toyota stated that her return would be unproblematic because she had never been convicted.

Hamp's was the company's first high-profile female promotion. She joined the company in 2012 and is now in charge of marketing and communications for the Toyota, Lexus, and Scion brands in the United States. Previously, she worked for PepsiCo Inc. and General Motors Co.

“Toyota believes the incident in 2015 will not hinder her career going forward,” the company said in answer to an AP inquiry. Prosecutors said in 2015 that Hamp conspired with her father to have 57 oxycodone pills shipped by airmail from the United States to a Tokyo hotel. They made the decision not to press charges.

Toyota executives apologized repeatedly for the arrest, and Toyoda publicly stated how he wished he could have done more to help Hamp. He also publicly defended her, recognizing her as an important member of the Toyota team.

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