Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime interpreter for the Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, was sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison Thursday on charges relating to the fraud case against him. Mizuhara stole 17 million dollars from the L.A. Dodgers superstar after a gambling scandal.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty in June to one count of bank fraud and one count of tax fraud. Mizuhara will be serving 57 months in a federal prison. The charges had carried a maximum possible sentence of 30 years. He was ordered to pay $18 million in restitution. $17 million would go to Ohtani and one million to the IRS. Mizuhara could be facing deportation once his sentence is up.
Prosecutors said Mizuhara stole $17 million dollars while working as Ohtani’s translator. Mizuhara was making unauthorized transactions from Ohtanis’s account between September 2021 and January 2024.
He began to gamble through an illegal bookie and would eventually lose large sums of money over time.
Prosecutors stated Ohtani’s contact information was changed. Instead of it being Ohtani’s information, it was account information linked to Mizuhara. He would also make phone calls impersonating Ohtani.
Ippei sent a letter to the court, he talked about his financial strain and gambling addiction.
“I am asking for a little mercy from the court concerning my sentence you will hand down, I truly admire Shohei as a baseball player and a human being and I was committed to devote my life so Shohei can be the best version of himself on the field. I want to say I am truly sorry for violating his trust in me,” wrote Mizuhara in a letter to the court.
Mizuhara must surrender to federal authorities by March 24.
