Shohei Ohtani Interpreter Reaches Plea Deal In Sports Betting Case

Federal prosecutors have reached a plea take care of Ippei Mizuhara, the previous interpreter for MLB star Shohei Ohtani, which might see him serving as much as 33 years in federal jail.

The 39-year-old pleaded responsible to a pair of felony fees for financial institution fraud and submitting a false tax return. The settlement requires Mizuhara to pay $17 million in restitution to the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher. The interpreter funneled hundreds of thousands of {dollars} out of Ohtani’s account for masking 1000’s of bets made with an unlawful bookie.

“I need to emphasize this level: Mr. Ohtani is taken into account a sufferer on this case,” U.S. Legal professional Martin Estrada mentioned in April. “Mr. Mizuhara used and abused that place of belief… in an effort to plunder Mr. Ohtani’s checking account to the tune of over $16 million.”

Belongings Seized, IRS Settlement

Mizuhara isn’t anticipated to obtain the utmost sentence as a part of the plea deal, and certain will serve seven to 9 years in jail. A choose within the case will make the ultimate resolution on jail phrases, nevertheless.

Together with jail time and the restitution, Mizuhara should additionally pay the IRS $1.5 million for failing to report over $4 million in earnings. The crime first got here to mild in March when ESPN uncovered particulars within the case.

Mizuhara was later fired by the Dodgers. The financial institution fraud scheme ran from November 2021 to March 2024, and included impersonating the baseball participant to get the financial institution to approve giant monetary transfers.

As a part of the take care of authorities, Mizuhara may have property bought with the stolen funds seized, together with vital baseball memorabilia that included playing cards that includes Yogi Berra, Juan Soto, and Ohtani.

TV Present In Improvement

In associated information, the whole ordeal is now anticipated to be featured in a TV sequence. Deadline experiences that Lionsgate Tv has tagged Scott Delman and Albert Chen to provide a scripted sequence based mostly on the scandal.

The present is predicted to observe Ohtani’s rise from Japanese baseball to signing the most important sports activities deal in American historical past, a 10-year settlement with the Dodgers price $700 million.

“That is main league baseball’s greatest sports activities playing scandal since Pete Rose – and at its heart is its greatest star, one which MLB has hitched its wagon on,” Chen mentioned. “We’ll get to the guts of the story – a narrative of belief, betrayal and the trimmings of wealth and fame.”