SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) 鈥 A Southern California bookmaker who took thousands of sports bets from the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani pleaded guilty Friday to running an illegal gambling business.
Mathew Bowyer, 49, entered the plea in federal court in Santa Ana. He also pleaded guilty to money laundering and subscribing to a false tax return. He's due to be sentenced Feb. 7.
鈥淚 was running an illegal gambling operation, laundering money through other people鈥檚 bank accounts,鈥 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 wagers from more than 700 bettors, including Ohtani鈥檚 former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
Operating an unlicensed betting business is a federal crime. Meanwhile, sports gambling is illegal in California, even as 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 the before signing with the last offseason.
Federal investigators say Mizuhara, who is scheduled to be sentenced in October, made about 19,000 wagers between September 2021 and January 2024. While Mizuhara鈥檚 winnings totaled over $142 million, which he deposited in his own bank account and not Ohtani鈥檚, his losing bets were around $183 million 鈥 a net loss of nearly $41 million.
Investigators didn't find any evidence Mizuhara had wagered on baseball. Prosecutors said there also was or aware of Mizuhara鈥檚 gambling, and the player, who , is considered a victim.
Diane Bass, Bowyer's attorney, said her client never had any contact with Ohtani. Based on the federal sentencing guidelines, she said she believes his expected sentencing range could be 30 to 37 months. Federal prosecutors said in court the maximum potential prison sentence for the offenses would be 18 years.
鈥淢r. Bowyer is very relieved to finally be able to accept responsibility for his conduct,鈥 Bass told reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing. 鈥淗e is looking forward to receiving his sentence so that he can put this chapter behind him and he and his family can get on with their lives.鈥
Federal prosecutors said Bowyer鈥檚 other customers included a professional baseball player for a Southern California club and a former minor league player. Neither were identified by name in court filings.
Bowyer鈥檚 guilty pleas are the latest sports betting scandal this year, including one that led Major League Baseball to for the first time since Pete Rose was barred in 1989. In June, the league banned San Diego Padres infielder for life and suspended four other players for betting on baseball legally. Marcano became the first active player in a century banned for life because of gambling.
Rose, whose playing days were already over, agreed to his ban in 1989 after an investigation found that he鈥檇 placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team.
The league鈥檚 gambling policy from wagering on baseball, even legally. MLB also bans betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers. The penalty is determined at the discretion of the commissioner鈥檚 office.
In Mizuhara's case, Bowyer was not named in the criminal complaint but popped up repeatedly as 鈥淏ookmaker 1." Federal prosecutors declined to identify him, but Bass confirmed on Friday that reference was to her client.
, the court filing shows, and the communications varied between friendly messages 鈥 Bowyer wished Mizuhara a 鈥淢erry Christmas鈥 in early December 2022 鈥 and threatening ones when the interpreter failed to pay off his debts on time.
At one point, Bowyer couldn鈥檛 reach Mizuhara and threatened to approach Ohtani, who was identified as 鈥淰ictim A鈥 in the court filing.
鈥淗ey Ippie, it鈥檚 2 o鈥檆lock on Friday. I don鈥檛 know why you鈥檙e not returning my calls. I鈥檓 here in Newport Beach and I see (Victim A) walking his dog,鈥 the bookmaker wrote to Mizuhara on Nov. 17, 2023. 鈥淚鈥檓 just gonna go up and talk to him and ask how I can get in touch with you since you鈥檙e not responding? Please call me back immediately.鈥
The pair last corresponded March 20, the day and broke the news of the investigation.
鈥淗ave you seen the reports?鈥 Mizuhara wrote to Bowyer.
The bookmaker responded, 鈥淵es," adding, "Obviously you didn鈥檛 steal from him. I understand it鈥檚 a cover job.鈥
Mizuhara replied: 鈥淭echnically I did steal from him. it鈥檚 all over for me.鈥
___
Dazio reported from Los Angeles.
