Ippei Mizuhara, Dodger star Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, was slated to begin serving his prison sentence but that date has been pushed back for reasons undisclosed. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 24, 2025.
Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara will no longer begin his prison sentence on Monday as originally planned.
For reasons that have not been disclosed, Mizuhara, who was sentenced to five years in prison for bank and tax fraud, has his surrender date pushed back. He was slated to surrender Monday to begin serving time but the U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed to NBC4 that is no longer the case.
It’s unclear when Mizuhara will begin his time in prison since court documents with the new surrender date have been sealed.
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Mizuhara, of Newport Beach, was convicted of stealing nearly $17 million from Dodger star Ohtani. He pleaded guilty to fraud charges and admitted to stealing the funds to pay off mounting gambling debts.
Mizuhara’s attorney has not returned NBC4’s request for comment.
At his sentencing hearing last month, Mizuhara apologized for his actions and accepted responsibility for his crimes. He also apologized to Ohtani and his family, as well as the government, judge and the Dodgers.
His case was part of a larger investigation into illegal sports bookmaking organizations in the Southland. His winning bets totaled more than $142,256,000 and his losing bets about $182,935,000. Total losses amounted to more than $40,679,000, the affidavit said.
