Baseball star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Kazuhiro Mizuhara, was originally scheduled to report to federal prison on Monday (May 13) to begin his 57-month sentence, but court documents show that he has once again obtained a postponement, with the final deadline for surrender pushed back to June 16.
This is the second time Mizuhara has been granted a postponement—the initial date for him to surrender was March 24, nearly three months before the new deadline.
In June 2023, Mizuhara pleaded guilty to two federal felonies: "bank fraud" and "filing false tax returns." Investigations revealed that over 37 months, he placed more than 19,000 bets through illegal gambling operator Matt Bowyer's casino in California, totaling up to $325 million, with a net loss of about $40.2 million. More shockingly, he transferred at least $17 million from Shohei Ohtani's account to cover his gambling debts.
In February this year, U.S. District Judge John Holcomb adopted the defense's psychological assessment report at the sentencing hearing and sentenced Mizuhara to nearly the upper limit of the sentencing guidelines, but approved his request to surrender within 45 days after sentencing. Last week (May 8), Mizuhara applied for another postponement to Holcomb, and the court approved it without disclosing specific reasons. As of Monday evening, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) system still showed Mizuhara as "not in custody," with his prisoner number 09459-511 status not updated.
Mizuhara tearfully apologized to Shohei Ohtani in court in February, admitting he "betrayed the trust." However, his lawyer has not yet disclosed whether he has undergone gambling addiction treatment. After serving his sentence, Mizuhara may be extradited to Japan to face further litigation. Reporters tried to contact his lawyer, Michael Freedman, on Monday, but received no response.
