Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter of Shohei Ohtani, pleads guilty to multiple charges related to Ohtani’s alleged theft of money to fund his gambling habit. Meghann Cuniff of the Washington Post reports in X (link one then link two) that Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing false tax returns. More details are provided by the Associated Press and ESPN’s Paula Lavigne while Cuniff links to the full 33-page agreement.
AP reports that the bank fraud charge carries up to 30 years in state prison and the false tax return charge carries a sentence of up to three years in state prison. Cuniff reports that Mizuhara could face 87 to 108 months in federal prison as part of the plea, though “accepting responsibility“It could reduce that to 78 to 97 months. He added that prosecutors “may recommend a waiver of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines that put Mizuhara’s prison term below the 87-108 month range,” with the sentence ultimately to be decided by a judge. Mizuhara will appear in court on May 14, according to the AP. The plea deal means Mizuhara will likely be deported to Japan, according to Fabian Ardaya and Sam Blum of The Athletic.
“The level of fraud and theft by this defendant is enormous,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement, according to the AP. “He used his position of trust to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani and fuel the dangerous habit of gambling.”
Last month, Mizuhara was charged with bank fraud related to allegations that he withdrew more than $16MM from Ohtani’s bank account into an illegal sportsbook. Cuniff also filed a comprehensive 37-page complaint against Mizuhara at the time.
That document laid out a chain of events in which Mizuhara helped Ohtani open a bank account when the player first arrived from Japan in 2018, to deposit his salary with the Angels. Mizuhara started sports betting with an illegal bookie in 2021, as sports betting is illegal in California. Over the next several years, Mizuhara wired more than $16MM from Ohtani’s bank account to pay off his debts.
According to those charges, Mizuhara called Ohtani’s bank posing as a player to gain access. As revealed by Lavigne, today’s plea agreement says Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani when calling the bank “at least 24 times.” Ohtani’s agent tried several times to view the account but Mizuhara told him it was “secret” and that Ohtani did not want them to access it. Meanwhile, Ohtani believed that his accountants and financial advisors were closely monitoring the accounts. Since Mizuhara was in charge of all the translation between Ohtani and his team, each side was left with no idea what was going on.
The complaint against Mizuhara also contained various messages between him and the bookie, as well as between him and Ohtani. Investigators found no evidence that Ohtani knew about Mizuhara’s gambling habits and Ohtani is considered a victim in the case. And they found no evidence that Mizuhara bet on baseball. When the story of Mizuhara’s gambling broke in March, he told reporters that the debts were his, but Ohtani agreed to plug the money as his friend. He later retracted that story and said Ohtani knew nothing about the gambling or the transfer. Ohtani later spoke to the media and accused Mizuhara of stealing from him and lying and said that he did not know anything about what was happening until these allegations appeared in the media. Ohtani has been cooperating with the investigation. The complaint against Mizuhara has a text message where he admits to one of the bookies that he stole from Ohtani. Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers last month and Will Ireton has taken over for Ohtani since then.
MLB’s Department of Investigation opened an investigation into the matter in March but released the following statement when Mizuhara was indicted in April: “We are aware of the charges filed by the US Attorney’s Office against Mr. Mizuhara bank fraud after a thorough government investigation. . According to that investigation, Shohei Ohtani is considered a victim of fraud and there is no evidence that he authorized a bet with an illegal bookie. In addition, the investigation did not find any bets on baseball made by Mr. Mizuhara. Given the information disclosed today, and other information we have gathered, we will wait until the outcome of the criminal trial to decide whether the investigation is ongoing.”
