Ippei Mizuhara reports to federal prison after delay

Ippei Mizuhara has officially begun his federal prison sentence.

Mizuhara, the disgraced former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, is now in federal prison in Pennsylvania, Tisha Thompson of ESPN reported Monday. The 40-year-old Mizuhara was ordered to surrender to federal authorities by Monday and is now in custody at Federal Correctional Institution Allenwood Low, a low-security prison in Allenwood, Pa.

Thompson notes that Mizuhara was initially supposed to report to prison in March but that a federal judge granted the delay. The exact reasons for the delay remain under seal.

In February, Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months in prison on federal tax and bank fraud charges after pleading guilty to the charges last year. Mizuhara embezzled an estimated $17M from Ohtani’s bank accounts and allegedly used the funds to pay off an illegal bookie. Earlier this year, an audio recording emerged of Mizuhara impersonating Ohtani during a phone call to a bank in an attempt to push through a sizable wire transfer from one of Ohtani’s accounts.

Mizuhara is also facing possible deportation to Japan upon the conclusion of his prison term. Meanwhile, Matthew Bowyer, a bookmaker tied to the Mizuhara case, has since pled guilty to federal charges as well.

The delay in Mizuhara’s report date to prison makes for some interesting timing. Namely, Mizuhara is beginning his federal prison sentence on the exact same day that Ohtani is slated to make his return as a pitcher after an absence of nearly two years.