A bookmaker who took bets from Ippei Mizuhara, the convicted former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, was sentenced to a year and a day in jail Friday.
Mathew Bowyer, 50, pleaded guilty last year to one count of operating an unlawful gambling business, one count of money laundering and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said. Bowyer is also required to pay $1.6 million in restitution.
Bowyer’s bookie scheme operated out of California and in Las Vegas and lasted at least five years before October 2023, with as many as 700 bettors involved. The operation involved using websites based in Costa Rica and a call center to let bettors place bets, the attorney’s office said.
One of those bettors was Mizuhara, who in June 2024 pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return. In February, he was sentenced to 57 months in prison and was ordered to pay back money to Ohtani along with other restitution.
Bowyer told reporters that he was sorry Ohtani got his name dragged into the situation and said the MLB star is “just an innocent guy playing baseball,” according to The Associated Press.
Mizuhara impersonated Ohtani and stole nearly $17 million from him by accessing his bank accounts before using the money to place bets. The interpreter placed at least 19,000 bets with Bowyer between September 2021 and January 2024, the attorney’s office said, and ended up owing over $40.6 million because he lost more than he won.
