<p>Following the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/umpire-pat-hoberg-has-been-fired-by-major-league-baseball-due-to-his-connection-with-sports-betting-account">recent news</a> regarding former MLB umpire Pat Hoberg&#8217;s termination for his involvement with a friend&#8217;s betting account, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani&#8217;s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, and his legal case are currently back in the spotlight.</p>
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<p>Mizuhara was <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/ippei-mizuhara-sentenced-sports-betting-1.7452884">sentenced</a> to 57 months in federal prison yesterday after stealing roughly $17 million from Ohtani to fund and pay off his sports gambling debts. The verdict came in a Santa Ana, California courtroom yesterday, with Mizuhara pleading guilty last June to one charge of bank fraud and another charge of submitting a false tax return.</p>
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<p>As part of his<a href="https://x.com/GabeLacques/status/1788307130312761446"> plea deal</a> that he made back in May of 2024, Mizuhara was also ordered to pay Ohtani restitution in the form of $16.975 million and an additional $1.149 million to the IRS &#8211; not including any interest or penalties. Mizuhara&#8217;s attorney, Michael G. Freeman, has asked for a sentence of one and a half years while the prosecution was pushing for a 57-month sentence.</p>
<p>Following his release from prison, he will be tied to three years of supervised release. He was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/sport/shohei-ohtani-ex-interpreter-ippei-mizuhara-sentenced-spt/index.html">ordered to report to prison</a> by March 24th of this year.</p>
<h2>Shohei Ohtani&#8217;s ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara sentenced to over four years in federal prison</h2>
<p>An investigation into a California bookmaker early last year brought to light the gambling connections related to Mizuhara, who had been using illegal bookmaker Matthew Bowyer to make wagers on a variety of sports in California. There was no evidence found that Mizuhara bet on baseball. The former interpreter and close confidant of Ohtani also used the stolen funds to purchase baseball cards and other personal expenses.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">News: Ippei Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months in prison. Beginning on March 24.</p>
<p>He will have three years of supervised release and is ordered to pay restitution of nearly $17 million to Shohei a Ohtani.</p>
<p>Gov’t got the sentence they requested. Mizuhara asked for 18 months.</p>
<p>&mdash; Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1887633263105352025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Mizuhara reportedly gained access to Ohtani&#8217;s accounts in 2021 and impersonated the baseball superstar to authorize wire transfers to fund his gambling, with Ohtani unaware of the transactions. While the global phenom inked a massively deferred contract worth $700 million over ten years last winter, most of the activity came before Ohtani crossed town to join the Dodgers. The two-way player earned roughly $42.5 million through six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels but netted much more through endorsements, both in North America and Japan.</p>
<p>Mizuhara and Ohtani met in 2013 when the two were both with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball, with Mizuhara being the translator for the foreign players on the squad. When Ohtani was posted and later signed with the Angels in 2017, Mizuhara was hired by the team and became Ohtani&#8217;s interpreter, with the two forming a close bond. During the lockout back in 2021/2022, Mizuhara temporarily resigned from his position to be able to continue working with Ohtani, as he would have been unable to as a member of the Angels during the negotiations.</p>
<p>A permanent resident of the United States, Mizuhara could be deported back to Japan following his sentence.</p>
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Following the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/umpire-pat-hoberg-has-been-fired-by-major-league-baseball-due-to-his-connection-with-sports-betting-account">recent news</a> regarding former MLB umpire Pat Hoberg's termination for his involvement with a friend's betting account, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, and his legal case are currently back in the spotlight.



Mizuhara was <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/ippei-mizuhara-sentenced-sports-betting-1.7452884">sentenced</a> to 57 months in federal prison yesterday after stealing roughly $17 million from Ohtani to fund and pay off his sports gambling debts. The verdict came in a Santa Ana, California courtroom yesterday, with Mizuhara pleading guilty last June to one charge of bank fraud and another charge of submitting a false tax return.
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As part of his<a href="https://x.com/GabeLacques/status/1788307130312761446"> plea deal</a> that he made back in May of 2024, Mizuhara was also ordered to pay Ohtani restitution in the form of $16.975 million and an additional $1.149 million to the IRS - not including any interest or penalties. Mizuhara's attorney, Michael G. Freeman, has asked for a sentence of one and a half years while the prosecution was pushing for a 57-month sentence.

Following his release from prison, he will be tied to three years of supervised release. He was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/sport/shohei-ohtani-ex-interpreter-ippei-mizuhara-sentenced-spt/index.html">ordered to report to prison</a> by March 24th of this year.
<h2>Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara sentenced to over four years in federal prison</h2>
An investigation into a California bookmaker early last year brought to light the gambling connections related to Mizuhara, who had been using illegal bookmaker Matthew Bowyer to make wagers on a variety of sports in California. There was no evidence found that Mizuhara bet on baseball. The former interpreter and close confidant of Ohtani also used the stolen funds to purchase baseball cards and other personal expenses.

https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1887633263105352025

Mizuhara reportedly gained access to Ohtani's accounts in 2021 and impersonated the baseball superstar to authorize wire transfers to fund his gambling, with Ohtani unaware of the transactions. While the global phenom inked a massively deferred contract worth $700 million over ten years last winter, most of the activity came before Ohtani crossed town to join the Dodgers. The two-way player earned roughly $42.5 million through six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels but netted much more through endorsements, both in North America and Japan.

Mizuhara and Ohtani met in 2013 when the two were both with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball, with Mizuhara being the translator for the foreign players on the squad. When Ohtani was posted and later signed with the Angels in 2017, Mizuhara was hired by the team and became Ohtani's interpreter, with the two forming a close bond. During the lockout back in 2021/2022, Mizuhara temporarily resigned from his position to be able to continue working with Ohtani, as he would have been unable to as a member of the Angels during the negotiations.

A permanent resident of the United States, Mizuhara could be deported back to Japan following his sentence.

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