Bookie tied to Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter receives prison sentence

The bookie tied to Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has officially been sentenced this week.

Mathew Bowyer has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison by U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb, ESPN’s Tisha Thompson reported on Friday. Bowyer has also been sentenced to two years of supervised release on top of his jail term.

Additionally, Bowyer must attend gambling addiction counseling and must surrender to authorities by Oct. 10. Bowyer already paid a reported $1.6 million in restitution prior to his sentencing as well.

You can read Thompson’s full report on the Bowyer situation here.

The sentencing comes after Bowyer pled guilty in federal court back in Aug. 2024 to charges of illegal bookmaking, money laundering, and filing a false tax return. He was facing a maximum prison sentence of 18 years but managed to receive a lesser sentence by accepting a plea deal.

Bowyer was a key figure in the Mizuhara fraud case as he was the illegal bookie whom Mizuhara allegedly placed bets with. In his plea deal, Bowyer admitted to having at least 700 clients gambling with him and to making over $4 million in unreported income during the year of 2022 from his bookmaking business.

The 50-year-old Bowyer came under scrutiny after Mizuhara allegedly defrauded the Los Angeles Dodgers star Ohtani in an attempt to pay off his gambling debts to Bowyer. Mizuhara has since received his own jail sentence for stealing from Ohtani (pleading guilty to charges of bank fraud and tax evasion) and reported to federal prison earlier this summer after a notable delay.