SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) – A Southern California bookmaker who took thousands of sports bets in the first place. translator for baseball star Shohei Ohtani pleaded guilty Friday to operating an illegal gambling business.
Mathew Bowyer, 49, entered the plea in federal court in Santa Ana. He also pleaded guilty to money laundering and filing a false tax return. He is due to be sentenced on February 7.
Bowyer told the judge: “I was running an illegal gambling business, withdrawing money from other people’s bank accounts.
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 took money from more than 700 gamblers, including a former translator of Ohtani, Ippei Mizuhara.
Operating an unlicensed betting business is a federal crime. Meanwhile, sports gambling is illegal in California, as 38 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of it.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing about $17 million from the bank account of Ohtani, who played for the club. Los Angeles Angels before signing with Los Angeles Dodgers last season.
Federal investigators say Mizuhara, who is scheduled to be sentenced in October, made about 19,000 bets between September 2021 and January 2024. While Mizuhara’s winnings were more than $142 million, what he deposited into his bank account was not of Ohtani, losing his money was there. $183 million – a total loss of about $41 million.
Investigators found no evidence that Mizuhara had planted the baseball. Prosecutors say there is also there is no evidence that Ohtani was involved or to know about Mizuhara’s gambling, and the player, who collaborate with researchershe is considered a victim.
Diane Bass, Bowyer’s attorney, said her client has never met Ohtani. According to federal sentencing guidelines, he said he believed his expected sentence would be 30 to 37 months. Federal prosecutors said in court that the maximum possible sentence would be two years. 18 in prison.
“Mr. Bowyer is very relieved to finally be able to accept responsibility for his behavior,” Bass told reporters outside court after the hearing. “He expects to receive his sentence so that he can forget this chapter and he and his family can move on with their lives.”
Federal prosecutors say Bowyer’s other clients include a Southern California baseball player and a former minor leaguer. None of them were identified by name in court records.
Bowyer’s guilty pleas are the latest in a sports betting scandal this year, including one that brought Major League Baseball to a standstill. ban the player for life for the first time since Pete Rose was suspended in 1989. In June, the league suspended the San Diego Padres infielder. Tucupita Marcano life and suspended four other players for illegal baseball betting. Marcano became the first active player in a century to be banned for life for gambling.
Rose, whose playing days were over, agreed to his ban in 1989 after an investigation found that he placed multiple bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while he played and managed the team.
League betting strategy bans players and club staff from betting on baseball, even legally. MLB also prohibits betting on some sports by illegal or out-of-state bookies. The penalty is determined at the discretion of the commissioner’s office.
In the Mizuhara case, Bowyer was not named in the criminal complaint but appeared repeatedly as “Bookmaker 1.” Federal prosecutors declined to identify him, but Bass confirmed Friday that his client was being referred.
Mizuhara and Bowyer corresponded frequentlythe court shows, and the dialogue varies between friendly messages – Bowyer wishes Mizuhara “Merry Christmas” in early December 2022 – and threats when the translator fails to pay his debts on time.
At one point, Bowyer was unable to reach Mizuhara and threatened to approach Ohtani, who was identified as “Victim A” in court.
“Hey Ippie, it’s two o’clock on Friday. I don’t know why you don’t return my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see (Victim A) walking his dog,” the blogger wrote to Mizuhara on Nov. 17, 2023. “I’m going to go up and talk to him and ask how I can get in. affect you too since you don’t answer? Please call me right away.
The couple last texted on March 20, the day Los Angeles Times and ESPN published research articles.
“Did you see the reports?” Mizuhara wrote to Bowyer.
The bookmaker replied, “Yes,” and added, “Obviously you didn’t steal from him. I understand that it is self-employment. ”
Mizuhara replied: “I stole from him cleverly. it is finished with me.”
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Dazio reports from Los Angeles.
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