Current:Home > BackBookmaker to plead guilty in gambling case tied to baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter-InfoLens
Bookmaker to plead guilty in gambling case tied to baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter
View Date:2024-12-23 10:30:43
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California bookmaker who took thousands of sports bets from the ex-interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani has agreed to plead guilty to running an illegal gambling business, U.S. authorities announced Thursday.
Mathew Bowyer’s business operated for at least five years in Southern California and Las Vegas and took wagers from more than 700 bettors, including Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles said in a statement.
Bowyer has agreed to plead guilty to running an illegal gambling business, money laundering, and subscribing to a false tax return, the statement said. He is expected to enter the pleas in court on August 9.
The prosecution against Bowyer follows several sports betting scandals that emerged this year, including one that prompted Major League Baseball to ban a player for life for the first time since Pete Rose was barred in 1989.
Bowyer’s attorney, Diane Bass, said in March that she’d been working with federal prosecutors to resolve her client’s case and confirmed an October raid at his home. Bass told The Associated Press that ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was placing bets with Bowyer on international soccer but not baseball.
Operating an unlicensed betting business is a federal crime. Meanwhile, sports gambling is illegal in California, even as 38 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of it.
“Mr. Bowyer never had any contact with Shohei Ohtani, in person, on the phone, in any way,” Bass told the AP in March. “The only person he had contact with was Ippei.”
Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani’s bank account.
Federal investigators say Mizuhara made about 19,000 wagers between September 2021 and January 2024.
While Mizuhara’s winnings totaled over $142 million, which he deposited in his own bank account and not Ohtani’s, his losing bets were around $183 million — a net loss of nearly $41 million.
Still, investigators did not find any evidence Mizuhara had wagered on baseball. He is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
Prosecutors said there also was no evidence Ohtani was involved in or aware of Mizuhara’s gambling, and the player is considered a victim and cooperated with investigators.
Separately, the league in June banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for life and suspended four others for betting on baseball legally. Marcano became the first active player in a century banned for life because of gambling.
Rose agreed to his ban in 1989 after an investigation found that he’d placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team.
The league’s gambling policy prohibits players and team employees from wagering on baseball, even legally. MLB also bans betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers. The penalty is determined at the discretion of the commissioner’s office.
veryGood! (69)
Related
- Patrick Mahomes Breaks Silence on Frustrating Robbery Amid Ongoing Investigation
- Why John Mayer Absolutely Wants to Be Married
- 'Wait Wait' for January 6, 2024: New Year, New Interviews!
- Massive California wave kills Georgia woman visiting beach with family
- College football top five gets overhaul as Georgia, Miami both tumble in US LBM Coaches Poll
- T.J. Watt injures knee as Steelers defeat Ravens in regular-season finale
- Resurrected Golden Globes will restart the party with ‘Barbie,’ ‘Oppenheimer’ and Swift
- Over 100 evacuate Russia’s Belgorod while soldiers celebrate Orthodox Christmas on the front line
- Gossip Girl Actress Chanel Banks Reported Missing After Vanishing in California
- Massive vehicle pileup on southern California highway leaves 2 dead, 9 injured, authorities say
Ranking
- Trading wands for whisks, new Harry Potter cooking show brings mess and magic
- Paul Mescal on that 'Foe' movie twist ending, why it's 'like 'Marriage Story' on steroids'
- Halle Bailey Gives Birth, Welcomes First Baby With Boyfriend DDG
- Why Jim Harbaugh should spurn the NFL, stay at Michigan and fight to get players paid
- Taylor Swift Becomes Auntie Tay In Sweet Photo With Fellow Chiefs WAG Chariah Gordon's Daughter
- Death toll rises to 5 in hospital fire in northern Germany
- Former Raiders linebacker Jack Squirek, best known for Super Bowl 18 pick-six, dies at 64
- Survivors struggle to rebuild their lives three months after Afghanistan’s devastating earthquake
Recommendation
-
Saving for retirement? How to account for Social Security benefits
-
What are the benefits of black tea? Caffeine content, more explained.
-
Death toll rises to 5 in hospital fire in northern Germany
-
Why Gypsy Rose Blanchard's Ex Nicholas Godejohn Filed a New Appeal in Murder Conviction Case
-
Celtics' Jaylen Brown calls Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo a 'child' over fake handshake
-
Mexico authorities rescue 32 migrants, including 9 kids, abducted on way to U.S. border
-
Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb has officially arrived as one of NFL's elite players
-
Some Verizon customers can claim part of $100 million settlement. Here's how.