(Photo credit score: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
A U.S. District Court judged sided with the prosecution and issued a 57-month sentence on Thursday to Ippei Mizuhara for stealing roughly $17 million from Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
Mizuhara, the previous interpreter for Ohtani, additionally was given three years of supervised launch following his jail time. Judge John W. Holcomb, in Santa Ana, Calif., additionally instructed Mizuhara to repay the cash he took from Ohtani whereas additionally paying $1.1 million to the IRS.
Mizuhara, a 40-year-old Japan native who acknowledged the theft, had requested for a lesser sentence of 18 months, citing a playing dependancy that he maintained led to him taking cash he wanted to repay a bookmaker.
“I want to say I am truly sorry to Mr. Ohtani for what I have done,” Mizuhara instructed the court docket, in accordance with ESPN.
Holcomb stated, per ESPN, “The magnitude of the theft — $17 million — in my view, is shockingly high. … I hope that Mr. Mizuhara will be able to repay that sum. That remains to be seen.”
In the leadup to the sentencing, prosecutors launched an audio tape during which Mizuhara tried to go himself off as Ohtani whereas phoning a financial institution and making an attempt to finish a $200,000 wire switch. Mizuhara didn’t dispute the authenticity of the proof.
Mizuhara labored as Ohtani’s interpreter with the Los Angeles Angels and later with the Dodgers after the two-way participant modified groups with a free agent deal in December 2023. He was fired in March 2024 after prosecutors reported Ohtani was a sufferer of theft following the investigation into an unlawful bookmaking operation that led to Mizuhara’s indictment.
In a court docket transient filed final month, Mizuhara stated of his playing dependancy that resulted in $17 million in losses, “I became almost dead inside. It was like I was just going through the motions. Although I had always told myself that I would win it all back, as it became clear to me this was an impossibility, I think I just shut down. But that did not stop me from placing more bets. I felt really antsy and anxious if I did not have an active bet. I felt pressure to stay in the game.”
–Field Level Media