Ippei Mizuhara, the former translator for MLB star Shohei Ohtani, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday on federal accusations of stealing about $17 million from the Dodgers player, nearly a year after the gambling scandal first arose.
Mizuhara, 40, acknowledged to unlawfully transferring money from Ohtani’s account for over two years to settle his gambling bills, including impersonating the player on two dozen bank calls, according to a plea bargain in the case.
Prosecutors described the plot as “deep” and “extensive” fraud, claiming that Mizuhara’s actions “harmed Ohtani substantially”.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty last year to one crime of bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in jail, and one count of subscribing to a fake tax report, which carries up to three years in prison. The probation officer suggested a sentence of 48 months.
Mizuhara, a permanent resident of the United States, faces deportation back to Japan after serving his federal sentence, according to prosecutors.
Mizuhara asks judge for mercy
Mizuhara, in a three-page letter to Judge John Holcomb filed ahead of Thursday’s hearing, requested a “merciful and not punitive” sentence and explained why he committed fraud.
He cited rising financial constraints that drove him to use Mathew Bowyer’s online sports betting platform beginning in 2021. He claimed that because to his “ignorance of the gambling industry,” he did not understand it was an illegal gambling operation until early 2024.
“Being desperate for money at the time, I naively thought this might be an opportunity to help myself financially and began using his website for sports betting.” “And before I knew it, the results were the polar opposite,” Mizuhara wrote. “My gambling debt had gotten so large that I could only pay it with Shohei’s money… I felt terrible about taking his money, but that was the only option I could think of at the time.”
Mizuhara also stated that the offseason was “physically and mentally” more difficult, describing some of his duties for Ohtani, such as transporting him to trainings, taking his dog to the vet, and repairing his bicycle, claiming he had “almost no true days off.”
“I felt like I was getting severely underpaid but I was afraid to speak up for myself as I was on a one year contract every year and I didn’t want to upset them and end up getting fired,” said the author.
Mizuhara stated that he wishes to utilize his experience to assist others coping with gambling issues. He also discussed the effects a prison term would have on his wife.
“I understand that I have taken a decision that will affect the rest of my life, and I will not make excuses for what I have done. I am not attempting to defend my behavior in any way. “I am asking you to look at me as a man and believe that change is possible,” he added. “I don’t think an apology will right my wrong. I am prepared to accept my consequences. I am requesting a little leniency from the court regarding the penalty you will impose.”
He concluded by saying he is “truly sorry” for breaking Ohtani’s confidence.
Defense, government make case for sentence
Mizuhara’s lawyer asked the judge to impose an 18-month sentence, arguing in a memorandum that the interpreter is dedicated to his work for Ohtani but suffers from a “longstanding gambling addiction, which was uniquely exacerbated by his grueling work and exposure to high-stakes bookmakers in the world of professional athletes.”
Mizuhara, 64, “made a terrible mistake as a result of his serious gambling addiction, an anomaly in an otherwise law-abiding life in which he was dedicated to his career as an interpreter for Mr. Ohtani and other baseball players,” according to his lawyer, Michael Freedman.
The defense attorney further stated that Mizuhara’s reputation has been “irretrievably stained” and that he “will continue to suffer as a result of harm to his reputation and career in the global press and through certain deportation.”
Prosecutors, meanwhile, sought the court to impose a 57-month prison sentence while contesting the defense’s “unsupported claims” about the degree of Mizuhara’s gambling issue and the financial problems he said led him to Bowyer’s illicit sports betting operation.
In response to the defense’s sentencing filings, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Mitchell stated that the government found no evidence of a long-standing gambling addiction and that Mizuhara did not have “such a ‘tremendous debt’ that forced him to steal millions of dollars from Mr. Ohtani, as he claims.”
Mitchell also questioned if Mizuhara is “truly remorseful or whether they are just sorry they were caught” and highlighted passages of Mizuhara’s letter to the judge, in which he listed Ohtani’s offseason obligations.
“The government does not question defendant’s work ethic, but only his characterization of the work and his true intention,” Mitchell said in his essay. “Instead of using this opportunity to apologize and show true remorse, he has used it, in a public filing, to complain about his work and Mr. Ohtani.”
In addition to the prison sentence, the government requested three years of supervised release, restitution of $16,975,010 to Ohtani, and $1,149,400 to the IRS.
Sentencing comes nearly year after firing
Mizuhara worked as Ohtani’s interpreter for the Angels before joining the Dodgers, where he was sacked over a year ago, in March 2024, when the gambling scandal broke.
Ohtani addressed the scandal at the time during a news briefing, saying in a prepared statement read through an interpreter, “I am very saddened and shocked that someone I trusted has done this.”
Mizuhara pleaded guilty to federal charges in June 2024.
According to the plea deal, from November 2021 to March 2024, Mizuhara moved approximately $17 million from the account to bookmaker associates via more than 40 wire transfers without Ohtani’s approval.
Ohtani inked a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers prior to last year, the largest deal in sports history.
Bowyer pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for running an illegal gambling operation and accepting illicit sports bets from hundreds of individuals, including Mizuhara, according to the Department of Justice. He is set to be sentenced in April.
Mizuhara also pleaded in the plea bargain to fraudulently declaring that his total taxable income for 2022 was $136,865, despite failing to declare an additional $4.1 million in income.
“The source of the unreported income was from his scheme to defraud the bank,” the DOJ said, noting that he owes roughly $1,149,400 in additional taxes for the tax year 2022, plus further interest and penalties.
His sentence has been postponed multiple times after the defense requested further time to prepare and a forensic psychologist to finish a report on Mizuhara’s gambling.
