Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara went from the dugout to the bullpen on Thursday.
Judge John W. Holcomb sentenced Mizuhara to 57 months in jail and ordered him to pay $18 million in restitution.
He will report to prison on March 24.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty last year to charges of bank fraud and filing a false tax return after he had stolen roughly $17 million from the 2024 National League MVP to cover gambling debts.
His probation officer told the judge he recommended four years.
Prosecutors wanted 57 months, and Mizuhara asked the judge for a much-lighter 18-month sentence.
The prosecutors got exactly what they wanted.
“I am asking for a little mercy from the court concerning my sentence you will hand down,” Mizuhara said in a letter to the Judge.
Bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, who was taking Mizuhara’s illegal bets through his Costa Rica betting site, told The Post last week that Mizuhara “is a great guy.”
“I think he will get three to five years,” he said last week. “I feel terrible he’s going through this.”
Bowyer told The Post on Thursday he was not at the California courthouse to watch the sentencing and did not plan on speaking further publicly about the matter until after the same judge sentences him on April 4.
The former bookie is hoping that he only gets probation.
“It was very obvious after some time that [Mizuhara] was stealing money and not asking Ohtani for permission,” Bowyer told The Post in the exclusive interview last week, adding that he never asked Mizuhara if Ohtani was placing any bets through him.
Last month, the Associated Press released an audio recording of Mizuhara allegedly impersonating Ohtani with a bank as he tried to get $200,000 transferred to him for a “car loan.”
Prosecutors said Mizuhara made at least 19,000 wagers between September 2021 and January 2024, through Bowyer.
“During this period, Mizuhara had total winning bets of at least $142,256,769, and total losing bets of at least $182,935,206, leaving Mizuhara owing approximately $40,678,436.
On a regular basis during this period, Bowyer would increase Mizuhara’s betting limits,” the Department of Justice said.
Major League Baseball has cleared Ohtani of any wrongdoing.
“Based on the thoroughness of the federal investigation that was made public, the information MLB collected, and the criminal proceeding being resolved without being contested, MLB considers Shohei Ohtani a victim of fraud and this matter has been closed,” MLB in June 2024 said.
“I asked him if he was OK,” Bowyer said when Mizuhara was losing lots of money. “He said, ‘I’m just terrible at this.’ I would try to control him a little bit.
“I truly believe he had a massive gambling addiction problem.”
Bowyer said despite his concern he didn’t cut off Mizuhara because of his greed.
“I was in my own gambling addiction, going to Vegas [from his Southern California home] and betting millions of dollars.”
Ohtani, meanwhile, will be reporting to spring training in the next few days as the reigning World Series champions prepare for their March 18 opening regular season game against the Cubs in Tokyo.
Mizuhara was in the dugout for the opening game last year and was fired shortly after when his gambling exploits were revealed.
Recent Comments