Shohei Ohtani's Former Interpreter Finally Reports To Prison

J.P. Hoornstra | Jun 17, 2025

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani (left) and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara attend the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints at SoFi Stadium on Dec. 21, 2023. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

More than four months after Ippei Mizuhara received his sentence in federal court for defrauding Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani of nearly $17 million, the former interpreter is behind bars.

According to multiple reports Monday, Mizuhara reported to Federal Correctional Institution Allenwood Low, a low-security facility in the rural part of Pennsylvania.

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In issuing Mizuhara a 57-month prison sentence in February, acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally said Mizuhara "took advantage of Mr. Ohtani's vulnerability as a non-English speaking person trying to navigate the celebrity baseball world in the United States."

The crime was perpetrated over the course of nearly two years, but did not become public until just after the Dodgers’ first game of the 2024 season ended.

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Unbeknownst to Ohtani, Mizuhara had spent part of his day telling a reporter from ESPN something Mizuhara should have revealed to Ohtani first: For the better part of two years he had been racking up a gambling debt that ran into the millions of dollars. When that debt became too large for him to pay down on his own, Mizuhara tapped into the bank account he helped Ohtani open six years earlier when Ohtani signed with the Angels.

At first, Mizuhara told the ESPN reporter that he tapped into Ohtani’s bank account with Ohtani’s permission. That was a lie, a federal investigation would reveal in the weeks that followed.

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That Ohtani would be named in a federal investigation involving an illegal sports gambling ring was a bombshell in and of itself. That his interpreter and best friend for the entirety of his MLB career triggered the investigation was another bombshell.

The third bombshell — that Mizuhara only revealed details of his theft and gambling addiction to Ohtani after the Dodgers’ Opening Day win — was perhaps the biggest of all. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara after he confessed following their Opening Day win in Seoul.

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MLB launched a parallel investigation into Ohtani’s involvement in the wire transfers from his account while the federal investigation was ongoing.

On March 25, 2024, Ohtani read a public statement explaining how he learned of Mizuhara’s betrayal, Ohtani said that “prior to the (team) meeting (on Opening Day), I was told by Ippei 'let's talk 1 on 1 in the hotel after the meeting.' So I waited. Up until that team meeting, I didn't know Ippei had a gambling addiction and was in debt.”

The normally reserved superstar said he felt “shocked” and “betrayed.” Three days later, in his first home game at Dodger Stadium, Ohtani went 2 for 3 with a double in a win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

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