Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud charges in relation to a $17 million gambling scheme during a change-of-plea hearing in federal court on Tuesday (June 4), ESPN reports.
Mizuhara, 39, faces a maximum prison sentence of 33 years and is scheduled for sentencing on October 25.
"I worked for Victim A [Ohtani] and I had access to his bank account and I had fallen into major gambling debt, and the only way that I could think of was to use his money," Mizuhara said when asked by U.S. district judge John W. Holcomb to describe what he did during the hearing. "I had access to Bank A. So I went ahead and wired money for my gambling debt with his bank account."
Major League Baseball said it was closing its investigation into the situation and Ohtani's potential involvement following Mizuhara's guilty plea.
"Based on the thoroughness of the federal investigation that was made public, the information MLB collected, and the criminal proceeding being resolved without being contested, MLB considers Shohei Ohtani a victim of fraud and this matter has been closed," the league said in a statement obtained by ESPN.
"Now that the investigation has been completed, this full admission of guilt has brought important closure to me and my family," Ohtani said in a statement obtained by ESPN. "I want to sincerely thank the authorities for finishing their thorough and effective investigation so quickly and uncovering all of the evidence.
"This has been a uniquely challenging time, so I am especially grateful for my support team - my family, agent, agency, lawyers, and advisors along with the entire Dodger organization, who showed endless support throughout this process.
"It's time to close this chapter, move on and continue to focus on playing and winning ballgames."
Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers amid accusations that he stole "money from my account and has told lies," Ohtani said while initially addressing the incident and denying his own involvement in March. Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to TMZ Sports that Major League Baseball was reportedly investigating Ohtani's involvement in the gambling scandal at the time of his denial.
Representatives for Ohtani, 29, are reported to have contacted law enforcement authorities and asked them to investigate a "massive theft" of money from the two-way baseball player, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN on March 21. Mizuhara, a longtime friend of Ohtani, reportedly sent $4.5 million from Ohtani's bank account to a Southern California bookmaking operation currently under federal investigation.
The interpreter's firing came after reporters asked questions about the wire transfers. A spokesperson for Ohtani claimed the baseball player transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara's gambling debt and presented the interpreter, who went into detail about his actions to ESPN during a 90-minute interview on March 19.
The spokesman would later disavow Mizuhara's account of the incident and said Ohtani's lawyers would prepare a statement when ESPN published its story on March 20.
"In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities," a statement obtained by ESPN from Berk Brettler LLP reads.
Ohtani, who spent his first six MLB seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, announced his decision to sign with the Dodgers in a post shared on his Instagram account on December 9. The Japanese native is arguably the biggest star in baseball as one of the league's best starting pitchers and hitters.
Ohtani led his country to a World Baseball Classic last March, days before his second AL MVP season in which he hit for a .304 average with a league-best 44 home runs and 95 RBIs and recorded a 10-5 record with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 23 starts and 132.0 innings pitched in 2023. The Japanese star signed a record-setting $700 million deal to join the Dodgers this offseason -- having previously spent his entire MLB career with the Los Angeles Angels -- which included the team deferring $68 million of the $70 million annual salary in an effort to have more spending room.
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