Ippei Mizuhara #

Introduction #

Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime interpreter and close companion of baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, was sentenced on February 6, 2025, to 57 months in federal prison for stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani’s bank account to pay off debts to an illegal bookmaker. The sentence, handed down in Santa Ana, California, nearly a year after the gambling controversy first surfaced, ended the career of one of baseball’s most recognizable supporting figures. Mizuhara, 40, received 57 months for bank fraud and a concurrent 36-month term for filing a false tax return, plus three years of supervised release and more than $18 million in restitution, including nearly $17 million to Ohtani and over $1 million to the IRS.

Background Information #

Born December 31, 1984, in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan, Mizuhara moved with his family to the Los Angeles area in 1991 and was raised in Diamond Bar, California, attending Diamond Bar High School. He claimed to have graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2007, though the school later said it had no records of him attending. In 2013 the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball hired him to interpret for their English-speaking players, and there he first met Ohtani, who arrived the same year. When Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels for the 2018 season, the team hired Mizuhara as his personal interpreter, a role he held through Ohtani’s move to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2024 season.

Mizuhara was far more than a translator. Federal investigators described him as Ohtani’s translator and “de facto manager,” who dealt with the star’s agents and financial advisors on his behalf; Ohtani paid him separately for driving him to meetings and other non-baseball duties. In March 2018 he helped Ohtani open the Phoenix bank account where his MLB salary would be deposited — the same account he would later drain. He gained popularity among fans for his closeness to Ohtani, catching his bullpen sessions and serving as his catcher at the 2021 MLB Home Run Derby.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

In September 2021, Mizuhara began placing sports bets with illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer and quickly fell into debt. According to his plea agreement, from November 2021 to March 2024 he transferred nearly $17 million from Ohtani’s account to associates of the bookmaker in more than 40 wire transfers without permission, also charging roughly $325,000 in baseball cards to the account. He used Ohtani’s password to sign into the account, changed its security protocols, and altered the registered email address and phone number so bank employees would call him rather than Ohtani when verifying transfers, impersonating Ohtani on about 24 occasions.

The scandal broke on March 20, 2024, when the Dodgers fired Mizuhara after Ohtani’s representatives accused him of “massive theft” of Ohtani’s funds to repay debts owed to a bookmaker. Days earlier, in Seoul for the season-opening series, he admitted a gambling addiction to Dodgers players and claimed Ohtani had transferred the funds to help him out of his debts. Later that evening, Ohtani’s law firm said he was the victim of “massive theft” and the matter had been referred to authorities. On April 11, 2024, federal authorities charged him with bank fraud after determining he had impersonated Ohtani and stolen over $16 million; he surrendered the next day and was released on a $25,000 bond. On June 4, 2024, he pleaded guilty to bank fraud and to subscribing to a false tax return, having claimed his 2022 taxable income was $136,865 while failing to report an additional $4.1 million.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Prosecutors called the scheme “deep” and “extensive” fraud and said Ohtani was “harmed substantially.” Ohtani, never accused of wrongdoing, submitted a sealed victim impact statement. “In this case, he had money stolen from him. He was taken advantage of. He was preyed on by Mr. Mizuhara,” acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally said outside the courthouse. “Mr. Mizuhara lied, he cheated and he stole. His behavior was shameless.”

Ahead of sentencing, Mizuhara apologized in court. “I am not trying to justify my actions,” he said. “I am prepared to receive my punishment.” In a letter to the judge, he described mounting financial stress and wrote that his gambling debt had grown so large that he could find no way to pay it but to use Ohtani’s money. His attorney asked for an 18-month sentence, citing a “longstanding gambling addiction,” while prosecutors disputed that claim and pressed for the 57 months the judge imposed. Judge Holcomb challenged the portrait of an underpaid worker, noting Ohtani gave his interpreter five-figure tips and a Porsche and covered nearly all his and his wife’s travel and most of their rent — and that Mizuhara still had over $34,000 when he took the first $40,000.

Current Status #

On February 6, 2025, Judge Holcomb sentenced Mizuhara to 57 months in federal prison plus three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $16,975,010 in restitution to Ohtani and $1,149,400 to the IRS. Mizuhara, a permanent U.S. resident, also faces the risk of deportation to Japan after his sentence, prosecutors said. After several postponed surrender dates, he reported to prison on June 16, 2025, and began serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low in Allenwood, Pennsylvania; as a permanent U.S. resident with a felony conviction, he is likely to be deported to Japan after completing his sentence.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The scandal destroyed the career of one of baseball’s most beloved supporting figures. Mizuhara’s own attorney said his reputation in the United States and Japan had been “irretrievably stained” and that he would continue to suffer in the global press, as well as through deportation. Will Ireton, who had interpreted for Kenta Maeda during his Dodgers tenure, took over as Ohtani’s interpreter after the firing. The case also brought down Bowyer, who pleaded guilty to federal charges for running an illegal gambling business that took unlawful sports bets from hundreds of customers, including Mizuhara. For Ohtani, the betrayal came just as he began a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers, the richest deal in sports history — a stark end to a relationship in which Mizuhara once said he had “almost no true days off.”