Federal prosecutors say there is no evidence Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, has gambling addiction
Federal prosectors said no evidence backs up Ippei Mizuhara's claims that he suffered from a gambling addiction, which led to massive debts, according to court documents.
Mizuhara, the former longtime interpreter of Shohei Ohtani, is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6 after pleading guilty to bank and tax fraud charges in June.
In the spring, Mizuhara admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani to pay off sports betting debts. Prosecutors asked for $16 million in restitution to Ohtani and an additional $1.1 million to the IRS.
Federal prosecutors have recommended a 57-month prison sentence with three years of supervised release, while Mizuhara's attorney asked for an 18-month sentence in a separate court filing citing Mizuhara's "long-standing" gambling addiction in which he claims to owe a debt of $40.7 million and "frequented casinos four to five times a week." The lawyer said his client is attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings three times per week.
Prosecutors have responded to Mizuhara's gambling addiction claim by saying that he gave "self-serving and uncorroborated statements to the psychologist he hired for the purposes of sentencing."
"All defendants claim to be remorseful at the time of sentencing," wrote prosecutors in the filing. "The question courts must answer is whether the defendant is truly remorseful or whether they are just sorry they were caught."
The government's investigation, prosecutors say, found "only minimal evidence" of legal gambling in Mizuhara's past after looking at over 30 U.S. casinos to find only that Mizuhara spent $200 at one in 2008.
Mizuhara, prosecutors claim, also created a FanDuel account in 2018 but never placed a wager. In 2023, he began using DraftKings after he "had already stolen millions of dollars from Mr. Ohtani."
Prosecutors are claiming that Mizuhara did not rack up a large debt that ultimately led to him stealing from Ohtani, as Mizuhara claimed in his defense.
Last week, an audio recording released by prosecutors showed Mizuhara impersonating the Los Angeles Dodgers star in order to wire $200,000 from Ohtani's bank account claiming the money was for a car loan. In 2021, the government alleges that Mizuhara attempted a fraudulent wire transfer from Ohtani's account for $40,000 while having over $34,000 in his checking account.
"[Mizuhara] could have used his own money to pay the bookie but instead chose to steal from Mr. Ohtani," claim prosecutors.
Per the federal criminal complaint against Mizuhara, he made 19,000 sports bets with an illegal bookie from December 2021 through January 2024, with bets ranging from $10 to $160,000 and an average wager of $12,800. Mizuhara placed roughly 25 bets per day.
Records show that he won roughly $142.3 million in sports wagers and lost more than $182.9 million, adding up to a net loss of roughly $40.7 million.
Prosecutors claim that "a significant period of incarceration is necessary" for Mizuhara stealing from Ohtani and that Mizuhara "feels ashamed from the international attention he received from his fraud schemes and web of lies."
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