The former interpreter for Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani was sentenced on Thursday to nearly five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $1 million in back taxes, after pleading guilty last year to stealing nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger.
Shohei Ohtani’s former translator sentenced to five years for stealing $17m from LA Dodgers star Prosecutors said Dodgers star was unaware of scheme.
The case was a rare dark mark for Ohtani, who has a trophy cabinet including a World Series win last year, three MVP awards, and a $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers, one of the largest in baseball history.
Prosecutors accused Ippei Mizuhara, 40, who moved to the U.S. in 2018 with Ohtani and served as a close confidante as well as a translator, of a multi-layered set of crimes involving the Dodgers star’s money.
Officials said Mizuhara never bet on baseball, and that Ohtani, perhaps the most famous player in the sport, was unaware of the grift.
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