"You and your wife went to first class!"'4 years and 9 months in prison + 26 billion won in compensation.' Ohtani's former interpretation is brazen → daily criticizing the baseball community
"You and your wife went to first class!"'4 years and 9 months in prison + 26 billion won in compensation.' Ohtani's former interpretation is brazen → daily criticizing the baseball community
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Former interpreter Shohei Ohtani, Mizuhara Itpei, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison and 26 billion won in compensation. Contrary to his defense statement, Mizuhara was criticized by the Japanese baseball community for being provided with a first-class ticket with his wife and finding that he had a large amount of money in his bank account balance.
According to reports by The Associated Press, NBC, and local broadcaster KCAL on the 6th (local time), a U.S. federal court in Orange County, California, ordered Mizuhara, who was charged with bank and tax fraud, to be sentenced to four years and nine months in prison and paid $18 million in compensation. As a result, Mizuhara has to pay $17 million (24.6 billion won) to Ohtani and the remaining $1 million (1.5 billion won) to the U.S. National Tax Service.
Mizuhara, who has had a relationship with Ohtani since he was a Japanese professional baseball Nippon-Ham Fighters, headed to the U.S. together as a dedicated interpreter when Ohtani entered the U.S. Mizuhara gained fame as an interpreter of Ohtani, but was indicted on charges of embezzling Ohtani funds in April last year. In particular, it was even more shocking as the allegation of embezzlement of funds was raised in the Seoul Series, where Ohtani debuted in the LA Dodgers uniform.
According to the U.S. federal prosecution's investigation, Mizuhara secretly withdrew 17 million dollars from Otani's account. Specifically, he was indicted in April last year on charges of lying to allow the bank to approve the transfer of 17 million dollars from Otani's bank account to repay his sports gambling debts.
On the 24th of last month, U.S. federal prosecutors sought $16.97 million (about 24.3 billion won) in compensation, imprisonment for four years and nine months, and a three-year probation.
In response, Mizuhara insisted on reducing the sentence to one and a half years in prison, saying that it was a remarkable low-wage labor because he served as Otani's manager 24 hours a day, 24 hours a day, and that he had fallen into sports gambling due to his poor life.
However, according to local media reports, Mizuhara received 500,000 U.S. dollars from Otani, who moved to the Dodgers in 2024, and worked as an interpreter. Mizuhara also reportedly received a Porsche, a luxury car, as a gift from Otani and received an additional bonus. 바카라사이트
On top of that, the U.S. court judged that the grounds for Mizuhara's claim of commutation were poor. According to local media, "Otani paid for the round-trip first-class airfare for the defendant and his wife. On top of that, the defendant's account balance remained $195,000 (about 280 million won) as he received a large bonus. It is a high amount from a general point of view," he said, adding, "If you see such facts, your trust in the defendant's claim will inevitably decrease considerably."
Mizuhara, who was wearing a black suit and a serious face at the court, was quoted as saying, "I'm ready to be punished. I'm not trying to justify my actions."
The Japanese baseball community also criticized Mizuhara. Japanese baseball fans are also in anger as major Japanese media outlets reported the verdict of Mizuhara's imprisonment and compensation in detail. Japanese baseball fans were confused whether Otani lied about being a manager 24 hours a day when he only went back and forth to the baseball stadium and home without going out often, or because he was an interpreter. This result shows Otani's true nature. Otani paid a great price, but he said, "I'm glad we lost our relationship even now," and "Even if you go to prison, make sure to return the stolen money."