A disgraced former Marine, Connor, is accused of a hate crime and murder after he beats a Japanese tourist to death. Connor was dishonorable discharged from the Marines after he was accused of raping the daughter of a wealthy Japanese businessman, Tanaka, and deported back to the United States. The case appears cut and dry but when the team finds Connor he tells them that he never raped Tanaka's daughter Maeko and that he and Maeko are actually in love. Connor claims Tanaka, with his vast connections, got him kicked out of the service and deported in order to end his relationship with his daughter. Our team is unsure if they can believe his story but push ahead and find the Japanese man was killed in self-defense and was one of Tanaka's men. Maeko is actually in the United States and Tanaka tried to take NCIS:LA off the case so they would not discover he has kidnapped his own daughter and is trying to secretly return her to Japan; leaving Ben to face life in More...prison. Callen and the team create an elaborate operation to rescue Maeko and return Connor's honorable Marine status which would then allow the couple to be together.