According to a new report, federal prosecutors have asked for a nearly five-year sentence and $18.1 million in restitution in the case of Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
Evan Drellich and Sam Blum of The Athletic reported Thursday that Mizuhara is next scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on Feb. 6. His sentencing has been delayed while prosecutors have gathered new evidence — including an audio recording demonstrating Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani in order to secure a $200,000 wire transfer.
That recording, published Thursday by The Athletic, “was filed to back up the prosecution’s claims that Mizuhara repeatedly called the bank to arrange wire transfers, having bypassed security measures by routing Ohtani’s online account information to his own email and phone number,” according to The Athletic.
The prosecution will ask for “restitution of nearly $17 million to Ohtani and another $1.1 million to the IRS,” even though Mizuhara will not be able to pay back that sum after racking up a massive gambling debt through an illegal bookmaker.
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In April 2024, Mizuhara was charged with stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani, most of which was transferred directly from Ohtani’s bank account to an account registered to an illegal bookmaker. He was fired by the Dodgers from his job as Ohtani’s interpreter after the allegations came to light in March 2024.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty in June to one count of bank fraud and one count of filing a false income tax return.
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A federal investigation revealed that Mizuhara began placing sports bets with Mathew Bowyer in Sept. 2021, and then transferred money from Ohtani’s personal account to cover the debts.
Last April, the Department of Justice released a 37-page complaint against Mizuharathat detailed the breadth of his gambling activities — most of which occurred during Ohtani’s time with the Los Angeles Angels. The Dodgers signed Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract in Dec. 2023.
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According to The Athletic, the U.S. Attorney’s office expects Mizuhara to argue that his conduct was caused by an addiction to gambling.
“Even if defendant is addicted to gambling, it cannot fully explain defendant’s conduct because defendant used the stolen funds for numerous personal expenses that had nothing to do with gambling,” Mitchell wrote in a court filing Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California cited by the Athletic. “Ultimately, the government submits, the motivating factor behind defendant’s crimes was not a gambling addiction but rather greed.”
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