Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter now in prison for stealing nearly $17M for gambling debts

The former interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, Ippei Mizuhara, reported to federal prison in Pennsylvania on Monday, Mizuhara’s attorney Michael Freedman confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months in prison for stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani to pay off gambling debts. 

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Federal prosecutors asked for a 57-month prison sentence while also asking Mizuhara to pay $16.9 million of restitution to Ohtani and another $1.1 million to the IRS.

The Dodgers fired Mizuhara in March 2024.

Federal investigators filed a complaint against Mizuhara on April 11. One day later, he turned himself in to law enforcement, the Department of Justice confirmed.

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Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return in June 2024, admitting that he placed about 19,000 bets with the bookie over a two-year period and accumulated over $40 million in debt.

Ohtani publicly addressed the gambling scandal in late March, saying he had never placed a sports bet and that Mizuhara’s story about paying off his $4.5 million gambling debt was fabricated.

Mizuhara was initially ordered to report to prison in March, but a federal judge granted a delay. No reason for the delay has been disclosed.

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