Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The former interpreter to Shohei Ohtani, who admitted stealing almost $17 million from the Japanese baseball star to pay off illegal gambling debts, was sentenced to 57 months in prison on Thursday. Ippei Mizuhara was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $18.1 million in his sentencing in federal court in Santa Ana, California. Mizuhara pleaded guilty in June to one count of bank fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. The bank fraud charge alone could have carried a prison sentence of up to 30 years. Mizuhara was ordered to surrender to authorities on March 24. After his prison sentence, he will be subject to three years of supervised release.
Mizuhara said he was “truly sorry to Mr. Ohtani,” repeating the remorseful words he had written in a letter to the court prior to his sentencing. The sentencing by US District Judge John Holcomb caps a scandal that rocked Major League Baseball at the beginning of the 2024 season. Ohtani, whose pitching and hitting skills have drawn comparisons to Babe Ruth, had signed the richest contract in North American sports history to join the Los Angeles Dodgers last December, a deal worth $700 million. Mizuhara, who had worked with Ohtani for six years while he was with the Los Angeles Angels, came with him to the Dodgers, but the team fired him last April following accusations of theft.
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Mizuhara initially said Ohtani had loaned him money to repay gambling debts. But investigators found that he had stolen the money, with prosecutors saying Mizuhara siphoned millions from Ohtani to finance an “insatiable appetite” for illegal sports gambling. Mizuhara admitted to spending the money on bets with an illegal bookmaker, on hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards, and on dental work. Between December 2021 and January 2024, Mizuhara placed approximately 19,000 bets ranging in value from $10 to $160,000 at an average of around $12,800 per bet. Mizuhara lied to bank officials and was recorded on telephone calls impersonating Ohtani to convince the bank to approve wire transfers of large amounts of money to the bookmakers.
After an initial April court appearance, Mizuhara’s lawyer said his client wished to apologize to “Ohtani, the Dodgers and Major League Baseball” and “take responsibility” for his actions.
Prosecutors stressed throughout the case that Ohtani was an innocent victim of Mizuhara’s deception and there was no evidence to suggest the Dodgers star was aware of or involved in illegal gambling. “The magnitude of the theft, the $17 million, in my view, is shocking,” Holcomb said. “Seventeen million is more than most people make in their lifetimes, in many, many lifetimes.” Mizuhara, 40, was ordered to pay some $17 million to Ohtani and $1.1 million to the US Internal Revenue Service. “I hope that Mr. Mizuhara will be able to repay that sum,” the judge said.
Prosecutors had recommended the 57-month sentence while Mizuhara’s lawyer, citing his gambling addiction, had sought an 18-month sentence. However, prosecutors said in court filings that Mizuhara’s actions went beyond gambling and added that the harm caused to Ohtani warranted a significant prison sentence. “Defendant betrayed Mr. Ohtani’s trust, causing him financial, reputational, and emotional harm,” prosecutors said. “Let there be no doubt Mr. Ohtani is truly a victim and has suffered, and will continue to suffer, harm from defendant’s conduct.” This kind of betrayal and greed calls for a significant term of imprisonment,” prosecutors concluded.
© 2024 AFP
