By AMY TAXIN, Related Press
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California bookmaker who took 1000’s of sports activities bets from the previous interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani was sentenced to simply over a yr in jail Friday.
Mathew Bowyer, now 50, had pleaded guilty a yr in the past to working an unlawful playing enterprise, cash laundering and submitting a false tax return. He was sentenced to 12 months and at some point in jail.
He’ll later be subjected to 2 years of supervised launch. He was additionally ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution to the Inside Income Service, which his lawyer stated he’s already paid.
“The underside line is, I’m remorseful. I’ve made many poor decisions in my life,” Bowyer advised the court docket earlier than sentencing, his voice trembling.
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Mathew Bowyer, a Southern California bookmaker who took 1000’s of sports activities bets from the previous interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, arrives at federal court docket for sentencing, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Picture/Jae C. Hong)
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Mathew Bowyer, a Southern California bookmaker who took 1000’s of sports activities bets from the previous interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, arrives at federal court docket for sentencing, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Picture/Jae C. Hong)
Federal prosecutors wished Bowyer sentenced to fifteen months in jail for working the scheme that positioned tons of of tens of millions of {dollars} in bets and netted 1000’s of {dollars} every day. They stated Bowyer might have confronted an extended sentence however shouldn’t due to his important help of their investigations.
The prosecutor declined to remark after Friday’s listening to.
U.S. District Choose John W. Holcomb stated the sentence might have been longer, however each the federal government and Bowyer’s lawyer sought reductions.
Holcomb stated he was impressed by Bowyer’s latest efforts to help playing addicts and the overwhelming help proven by Bowyer’s household and pals, greater than a dozen who have been within the courtroom Friday, however stated he felt some jail time was vital because of the tax crime.
“Regardless of the numerous mitigation, there are penalties for committing these crimes,” Holcomb stated.
Diane Bass, Bowyer’s legal professional, wished her shopper to be spared jail time completely due to his “extraordinary acceptance of duty.” In a letter to the court docket, the daddy of 5 from San Juan Capistrano, California, stated he started playing as a teen by enjoying poker and betting on video video games, and it later spiraled uncontrolled.
“It’s so simple to gamble all the things away and fall into despair,” Bowyer wrote. “I’m very sorry and embarrassed that I facilitated such harmful risk-taking.”
The case towards Bowyer is a part of a broader federal probe into unlawful sports activities playing that led to the arrest of Ohtani’s former Japanese language interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who’s at the moment serving a virtually five-year sentence for financial institution and tax fraud after stealing practically $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers participant.
Authorities stated Bowyer ran an unlawful playing enterprise for not less than 5 years in Southern California and Las Vegas and took wagers from greater than 700 bettors together with Mizuhara, who had lengthy labored with Ohtani and was usually seen by his facet.
Whereas Mizuhara’s winnings totaled over $142 million, which he deposited in his personal checking account and never Ohtani’s, his dropping bets have been round $183 million — a internet lack of practically $41 million. Investigators stated Mizhuara wagered on sports activities aside from baseball. Authorities stated Ohtani was a victim within the case.
Bowyer cooperated with investigators of their prosecution of Mizuhara and in a case towards the top of a big sports activities playing enterprise, federal prosecutors wrote in court docket filings. They stated his “important, well timed, and credible” help helped authorities acquire two separate convictions.
Since then, Bowyer has been addressing his personal playing dependancy and serving to others overcome theirs, Bass wrote in court docket filings. He has additionally repaid $1.6 million in taxes, she stated.
Working an unlicensed betting enterprise is a federal crime. Sports activities playing is unlawful in California, whereas most states and the District of Columbia enable some type of it.
Sports activities-betting scandals have made headlines in recent times, together with one which led Main League Baseball to ban a player for life final yr for the primary time since Pete Rose was barred in 1989.
The league’s playing coverage prohibits players and team employees from wagering on baseball, even legally. MLB additionally bans betting on different sports activities with unlawful or offshore bookmakers.
The league final yr banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano and suspended 4 different gamers for betting on baseball legally. Marcano grew to become the primary lively participant in a century banned for all times due to playing.
Rose, whose enjoying days have been already over, agreed to his ban in 1989 after an investigation discovered that he had positioned quite a few bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985 to 1987 whereas enjoying for and managing the workforce.
In Nevada, the case towards Bowyer led gaming regulators to challenge a $10.5 million fantastic towards the Resorts World On line casino on the Las Vegas strip. It was the second-largest fantastic handed down by the state’s gaming fee and settled a grievance accusing the on line casino of welcoming folks with ties to unlawful bookmaking.
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