Ippei Mizuhara, ex-interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, pleads guilty - ESPN

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud charges during a change-of-plea hearing in federal court on Tuesday morning, two counts that carry a maximum prison sentence of 33 years.

Sentencing is set for Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. PT.

Mizuhara, 39, wore a black suit with a white undershirt while standing alongside his attorney, Michael Freedman, in the 10th floor of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse. U.S. district judge John W. Holcomb presided over the hearing.

Mizuhara stood behind a lectern alongside Freedman and repeatedly replied «yes sir» and «no sir» while Holcomb asked him questions about his knowledge of the plea agreement and the rights he was forfeiting by admitting guilt. Near the end of the hearing, which lasted about 50 minutes, a prosecution attorney outlined the bank fraud charges against Mizuhara.

When asked by Holcomb to describe what he did, Mizuhara said: «I worked for Victim A [Ohtani] and I had access to his bank account and I had fallen into major gambling debt, and the only way that I could think of was to use his money. I had access to Bank A. So I went ahead and wired money for my gambling debt with his bank account.»

Mizuhara walked out of the courthouse shortly thereafter and did not have any comment while mobbed by media members on the way to a car.

After Mizuhara's guilty plea, Major League Baseball announced it was closing its investigation into the matter.

«Based on the thoroughness of the federal investigation that was made public, the information MLB collected, and the criminal proceeding being resolved without being contested, MLB considers Shohei Ohtani a victim of fraud and