SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) – A Southern California bookie who took thousands of sports bets from ex interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani pleaded guilty Friday to operating an illegal gambling business.
Mathew Bowyer, 49, entered federal court in Santa Ana. He also pleaded guilty to money laundering and signing a false tax return. He will be sentenced on February 7.
“I was running an illegal gambling operation, laundering money through other people’s bank accounts,” Bowyer told the judge.
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 he took bets from more than 700 bettors, including Ohtani’s former translator, Ippei Mizuhara.
Operating an unlicensed betting business is a federal crime. Meanwhile, sports gambling is illegal in California, although 38 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of it.
Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly $17 million from a bank account belonging to Ohtani, who played for Los Angeles Angels before signing with Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason.
Federal investigators say Mizuhara, who is scheduled to be sentenced in October, placed about 19,000 bets between September 2021 and January 2024. Mizuhara’s winnings totaled more than $142 million, which he deposited into his bank account rather than To Ohtani, his losing bets were about $183 million — a net loss of nearly $41 million.
Investigators found no evidence that Mizuhara had bet on baseball. Prosecutors said there was, too no evidence that Ohtani was involved in the or aware of Mizuhara’s gambling, and the gambler, who cooperated with investigatorsis considered a victim.
Diane Bass, Bowyer’s attorney, said her client has never had any contact with Ohtani. Based on federal sentencing guidelines, she said she believes his expected sentencing range could be 30 to 37 months. Federal prosecutors said in court that the maximum possible prison sentence for the offenses would be 18 years.
“Mr. Bowyer is very relieved that he can finally accept responsibility for his behavior,” Bass told reporters outside court after the hearing. “He looks forward to receiving his sentence so he can put this chapter behind him and he and his family to get on with their lives.”
Federal prosecutors said Bowyer’s other clients included a professional baseball player for a Southern California club and a former minor league player. Neither was identified by name in court filings.
Bowyer’s guilty verdict is the latest in a string of sports betting scandals this year, including one that led Major League Baseball to ban a player for life for the first time since Pete Rose was ejected in 1989. In June, the league suspended the San Diego Padres player. Tucupita Marcano for life and suspended four other players for betting on baseball legally. Marcano became the first active player in a century to be banned permanently for gambling.
Rose, whose playing days were now over, agreed to his ban in 1989 after an investigation revealed he placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing and managing the team.
League Gambling Policy bans players and team employees from baseball betting, even legally. MLB also prohibits betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers. The penalty is determined at the discretion of the commissioner’s office.
In Mizuhara’s 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 the reference was to her client.
Mizuhara and Bowyer corresponded regularlythe court filing shows, and the communications ranged between friendly messages — Bowyer wished Mizuhara a “Merry Christmas” in early December 2022 — and threatening ones when the translator failed to pay off his debts on time.
At one point, Bowyer couldn’t reach Mizuhara and threatened to approach Ohtani, who was identified as “Victim A” in the court filing.
“Hey Ipi, it’s 2 o’clock on Friday. I don’t know why you are not returning my calls. I’m here in Newport Beach and I see (Victim A) walking his dog,” the bookie wrote to Mizuhara on Nov. 17, 2023. “I’m just going to go up and talk to him and ask him how I can come in. inside. should i contact you since you are not answering? Please call me right away.”
The pair last corresponded on March 20, the day Los Angeles Times AND ESPN announced the news of the investigation.
“Have you seen the reports?” Mizuhara wrote to Bowyer.
The reporter replied, “Yes,” adding, “Of course you didn’t steal it. I understand it’s a cover job.”
Mizuhara replied, “Technically I stole it. it’s all over for me.”
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Dazio reported from Los Angeles.