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A Southern California bookmaker who took thousands of sports bets from the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani pleaded guilty Friday to running an illegal gambling business.
Mathew Bowyer, 49, entered the plea in federal court in Santa Ana. He also pleaded guilty to money laundering and subscribing to a false tax return. He’s due to be sentenced Feb. 7.
“I was running an illegal gambling operation, laundering money through other people’s bank accounts,” Bowyer told the judge.
Federal prosecutors declined to comment after the hearing.
According to prosecutors, Bowyer ran an illegal gambling business for at least five years in Southern California and Las Vegas, and he took wagers from more than 700 bettors, including Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
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.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly $17 million from a bank account belonging to Ohtani, who played for the Los Angeles Angels before signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason.
Federal investigators say Mizuhara, who is scheduled to be sentenced in October, 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.
Investigators didn’t find any evidence Mizuhara had wagered on baseball. Prosecutors said there also was no evidence that Ohtani was involved in or aware of Mizuhara’s gambling, and the player, who cooperated with investigators, is considered a victim.
Diane Bass, Bowyer’s attorney, said her client never had any contact with Ohtani. Based on the federal sentencing guidelines, she said she believes his expected sentencing range could be 30 to 37 months. Federal prosecutors said in court the maximum potential prison sentence for the offenses would be 18 years.
