Former Shohei Ohtani Japanese-language interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was sentenced Feb. 6 to 57 months in federal prison and three years of parole, per iGB. He was also ordered to pay more than $18 million in restitution after stealing from Ohtani to fund an illegal gambling habit.
U.S. District Judge John Holcomb said Mizuhara “undermined” himself with a letter he wrote to the court asking for an 18-month sentence. Holcomb said he gave the letter no weight because Mizuhara “misrepresented truths” and it “suffered from (missing) important facts.”
Mizuhara, who pled guilty to two federal counts in June, stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani for gambling debts. Feb. 6 he was sentenced in US District Court for the Central District of California. The maximum sentence for one count of bank fraud and one count of signing a fraudulent tax return was 33 years.
According to a recording released by the court, Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani by phone to get access to his bank account. The recording was one of 24 times Mizuhara impersonated his boss. He also made multiple transfers over two-and-a-half years. But he never deposited winnings back into Ohtani’s account.
Mizuhara placed more than 19,000 wagers and made hundreds of millions of dollars in bets, according to court documents. Between September 2021 and January 2024, Mizuhara racked up $40.7 million in gambling losses while wagering more than $300 million.
Despite growing up in Southern California, he is not a U.S. citizen. His lawyer wrote in the sentencing memorandum that he is likely to be deported to Japan after serving his prison sentence. Holcomb concurred.
