Ippei Mizuhara will be spending the better part of the next five years in federal prison system for stealing $17 million from Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani. Mizuhara used the pilfered funds to pay off debts accrued during some eye-popping gambling sprees.
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb issued Mizhuara a 57-month sentence that includes an additional three years of supervised release. Judge Holcomb also ordered Mizhuara to repay the $17 million he took from Ohtani and to repay an additional $1 million to the I.R.S.
Mizuhara’s massive gambling habits, fueled by addiction, was absolutely massive and it’s believed that he spent nearly half of what Ohtani earned during his time with California Angels. Judge Holcomb seemed to embrace that shock in his ruling stating, “The magnitude of the theft — $17 million — in my view, is shockingly high.”
Though the court ruled that Mizhuara must repay the money he stole, the reality of that prospect was acknowledged in the sentencing. “I hope that Mr. Mizuhara will be able to repay that sum. That remains to be seen,” Holcomb said.
The depths of Mizuhara’s addiction were staggering, but just as shocking was the fact that his bookie continued to let him rack up debts he had no reasonable hopes of paying. At one point Mizuhara owed his illegal sports book $40 million.
Joseph T. McNally, acting United States Attorney for the Central District of California summed up the case in comments reported on by ESPN saying, “Mr. Mizuhara had a unique position of trust that gave him power, brought him fame, and paid him well. Unfortunately, he exploited this dream job to steal millions of dollars from his friend and confidant. This is a sad tale of an American success story gone wrong — so wrong that Mr. Mizuhara will be spending years inside a prison cell.”