Ippei Mizuhara, Ex-Interpreter for Baseball Star Shohei Ohtani, Pleads Guilty in Sports Betting Case

TIME

Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud on Tuesday and admitted to stealing nearly $17 million from the Japanese baseball player to pay off sports betting debts.

Transcript

00:00 Mr. Mitsuhara, please say a few words.

00:03 Please wait. I'll go in and talk to him.

00:08 Please wait.

00:10 As you saw earlier this morning, the defendant in this case, Mr. Mitsuhara, went before a judge and admitted his guilt in this case.

00:20 As we told all of you a couple months ago, this case was thoroughly investigated, thoroughly vetted,

00:28 and we came to the conclusion, based on the evidence, that Mr. Mitsuhara had committed a massive fraud,

00:35 and that fraud was committed against the one victim in this case, who is Shohei Otani.

00:42 In fact, after we announced the charges, we only discovered more fraud in this case.

00:48 We discovered Mr. Mitsuhara had victimized Mr. Otani to the extent that he wouldn't even pay for dental fees.

00:56 He stole money from Mr. Otani to pay for his own dental expenses.

01:01 The fraud was deep, and the fraud was extensive.

01:05 Well, now you've seen Mr. Mitsuhara has gone before a federal judge.

01:10 He's stated under oath that he was fully responsible for this fraud.

01:15 He's accepted his responsibility. He's admitted to his guilt.

01:20 And we will proceed to sentencing in this case and finally bring vindication to the victim,

01:25 but also the larger community that demands we address these types of fraud cases aggressively and with justice in mind.

01:33 We have not decided what we will seek at sentencing.

01:36 We will provide information to the court.

01:38 As many of you know, the court is ultimately responsible for the sentence in this case,

01:44 but we will provide full information to the court so it can make a reasoned decision.

01:48 30 years in theory, based on what he has pled to.

01:52 However, I will note that we are guided by what is known as the sentencing guidelines,

01:57 and those guidelines may call for a lesser sentence.

02:00 That being said, based on the extent of the conduct here, the sentence would likely be one that calls for incarceration.

02:06 I think there is a major message from this case, but I wouldn't limit it to Major League Baseball players.

02:12 I would extend it to our entire community.

02:14 Fraud of this sort, fraud by people who have the confidence of others,

02:18 is rampant in our community, in our nation.

02:22 We see elder abuse all the time in similar situations.

02:26 We see all kinds of people being abused by lawyers, people who have their trust and confidence,

02:32 and everyone needs to be aware.

02:34 They should be suspicious.

02:36 They should take precautions when they have others managing their money and managing their affairs.

02:40 I will say Mr. Otani is an immigrant, came to this country, is not familiar with the ways of this country,

02:47 and therefore was easily prey to someone who is more familiar with our financial systems,

02:52 and was able to take advantage of Mr. Otani.

02:55 Based on the conduct he is pleaded guilty to, he faces significant immigration consequences.

03:01 I will not get into predictions of what will ultimately happen,

03:04 but he certainly faces a risk of deportation, back to Japan, and having to leave this country and go to Japan.

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