The California man immortalized as the illegal bookie for Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter pleaded guilty to federal charges.
Mathew Bowyer, 49, admitted to running an illegal gambling ring involving Ippei Mizhuhara — who earlier pleaded guilty to federal bank and tax fraud charges — money laundering and submitting a false tax return.
Bowyer is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 7. Federal prosecutors said in court that the maximum sentence would be 18 years in prison. Bowyer attorney Diane Bass expects her client to receive up to 37 months.
“Mr. Bowyer is very relieved to finally be able to accept responsibility for his conduct,” Bass said after the hearing. “He is looking forward to receiving his sentence so that he can put this chapter behind him and he and his family can get on with their lives.”
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Bowyer will forfeit $257,923 and $14,830 in casino chips seized by law enforcement as part of his plea deal.
Feds: Bowyer Gambling Ring Had 700 Bettors
Federal prosecutors attest that Bowyer ran a gambling operation involving more than 700 bettors in Southern California and Las Vegas for at least five years. Mizuhara, according to court documents, placed around 19,000 bets through it from September 2021 to January 2024, amassing nearly $41 million in debt. He admitted using his access to the Los Angeles Dodgers star’s personal bank accounts to steal $17 million.
No evidence was found that Mizuhara bet on baseball, which is prohibited by Major League Baseball rules.
Bass said Bowyer had no contact with Ohtani.
But he threatened it, according to court documents.
When Mizuhara stopped responding to text messages, Bowyer sent the following message on Nov. 17, 2023:
“Hey Ippie, it’s 2 o’clock on Friday. I don’t know why you’re not returning my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see (Ohtani) walking his dog. I’m just gonna go up and talk to him and ask how I can get in touch with you since you’re not responding? Please call me back immediately.”
One of their final correspondence suggests Bowyer didn’t know how Mizuhara was paying off his debt. On March 20 Mizhuhara texted to ask if Bowyer had seen the ESPN and Los Angeles Times reports of the investigation that would eventually lead to both of their prosecutions.
Bowyer: Yes. Obviously you didn’t steal from him. I understand it’s a cover job.”
Mizuhara: “Technically I did steal from him. it’s all over for me.”
Read More:
About the Author
