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Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $18 million in restitution by U.S. district judge John W. Holcomb in relation to a gambling scheme on Thursday (February 6).
Mizuhara, 40, pleaded guilty as part of a change-of-plea hearing in June and faced a maximum of 33 years in prison.
"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 Holcomb to describe what he did during the previous hearing in June vai ESPN. "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 closed 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 2024. Ohtani recently won his first World Series during his first season of a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers, as well as his third MVP in four seasons, having won the National League MVP award for the first time and the American League MVP award in 2021 and 2023.