Bookie tied to Shohei Ohtani's interpreter gets 1-year sentence

Field Level Media|published: Fri 29th August, 20:16 2025

Dec 14, 2023; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ippei Mizuhara, the translator for Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, during an introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Southern California bookmaker, who had the interpreter of major league baseball star Shohei Ohtani as a client, was sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay $1.56 million in restitution Friday.

Matthew Bowyer was sentenced on a number of bookmaking-related charges, including running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and signing a false tax return, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles. He pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this month.

Bowyer was facing as much as 128 years in prison for the three counts.

In June, Ohtani's former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. MLB closed its investigation that day, saying Ohtani had been cleared of any involvement in the gambling scheme and was considered a victim of fraud.

Mizuhara was just one of more than a reported 700 clients for Bowyer.

The court records mentioned two other bettors who placed bets with Bowyer's organization. "Individual B" was cited as a professional baseball player for a Southern California club, and "Individual C" was listed as a former minor league baseball player.

Individual C bet on a variety of sports, including games that Individual B played in.

--Field Level Media