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Ippei Mizuhara agreed Wednesday to plead guilty to federal charges of felony bank fraud and submitting a false tax return after authorities found that he stole nearly $17 million from Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani in order to pay off gambling debts to an illegal sportsbook.

Mizuhara, 39, who had been Ohtani’s longtime interpreter, is expected to enter his guilty plea in the coming weeks. His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

A sentencing date has not been set. The total maximum sentence Mizuhara could receive for both crimes would be 33 years imprisonment and fines of $1.25 million, but in exchange for his plea — outlined in the agreement released Wednesday — prosecutors would recommend a reduced sentence.

The plea agreement says Mizuhara will be required to pay full restitution, or $16,975,010, to Ohtani.

Mizuhara’s attorney declined to comment. A spokesperson for Ohtani declined to comment, as did the Dodgers.

Federal authorities filed the complaint against Mizuhara on April 11, just three weeks after an ESPN investigation detailing wire transfers of $500,000 from Ohtani’s bank account to the bookmaking operation. Mizuhara initially told ESPN that Ohtani had sent the money to help him pay his debts but later changed his story to say Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling or the wire transfers. Ohtani’s attorneys alleged the slugger had been the victim of a “massive theft.”

“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is massive,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a news release. “He took advantage of his position of trust to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani and fuel a dangerous gambling habit.”

Also in the statement, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher said, “Mr. Mizuhara exploited his relationship with Mr. Ohtani to bankroll his own irresponsibility.”

The documents filed Wednesday further detailed a relationship of trust in which Ohtani, who does not speak English, relied on his Japanese interpreter to help him with everything from answering questions at news conferences and transacting with financial advisers and sports agents to opening bank accounts.

Mizuhara began placing bets with an illegal bookmaker in September 2021, and as his losses quickly mounted, he began to exploit his access to Ohtani’s financial accounts to pay off his debts.

The agreement detailed Mizuhara’s transfers of Ohtani’s money to the bookmaker’s associates as one $40,010 transfer in November 2021, one $300,000 transfer in February 2022, 36 transfers totaling $15 million from February 2022 to October 2023, and three transfers totaling $1.25 million from December 2023 through January 2024.

Mizuhara took many steps to deceive Ohtani, including changing contact information on the baseball player’s bank accounts so communication would come to Mizuhara. He even impersonated Ohtani on the phone with calls to the bank, which he did at least 24 times, according to the plea agreement.

In one such attempt, on Feb. 2, 2022, Mizuhara called a representative of a bank — referred to as Bank A — for help getting a wire transfer for what Mizuhara said was a “car loan” and verified the transaction with a six-digit code sent via text message, which went to Mizuhara’s phone as he had already changed the information on the account.

In September 2023, Mizuhara told Ohtani he needed $60,000 for dental work, which Ohtani arranged to give him via a check drawn from a business account. However, Mizuhara pocketed that money and instead used Ohtani’s debit card to pay the $60,000 dental bill.

The agreement also states that Mizuhara filed a false tax return for tax year 2022, noting multiple inaccuracies such as failing to report $4.1 million, according to the plea agreement. For that, he owes an additional $1.15 million in taxes.

ESPN’s Tisha Thompson contributed to this report.

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U.S. advances at hockey worlds; Canada now 6-0

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U.S. advances at hockey worlds; Canada now 6-0

PRAGUE — Dylan Cozens scored two goals and had an assist to rally Canada past Switzerland 3-2 for its sixth win in six games at the ice hockey world championship on Sunday.

Canada leads Group A with 17 points, two more than the Czech Republic in second with Switzerland another point back in third. The three teams had already clinched a spot in the playoff round.

Cozens has scored six goals at the tournament and is tied atop the scoring table with American Brady Tkachuk and Finland’s Oliver Kapanen.

Nick Paul also scored for Canada and goaltender Jordan Binnington made 20 saves including a penalty shot in the second period when the score was 2-2.

Cozens found the roof of the net on a power play 1:42 into the game to give Canada an early lead.

Switzerland answered with two goals.

Kevin Fiala wristed an equalizer past Binnington in the opening frame on a power play.

Romain Loeffel put the Swiss 2-1 up in the middle period with a slap shot from the blue line.

Cozens tied it again at 2-2 from the top of the left circle on a power play.

Paul scored the winner for Canada on a power play, completing a series of passes by scoring into an open goal midway through the second.

Canada will complete the preliminary round on Tuesday against the Czech Republic, when Switzerland will face Finland.

In Group B, Latvia prevailed over Slovakia 3-2 in a penalty shootout. The result sent the United States to the next round.

Tkachuk scored three power play goals and added an assist to help the United States rout Kazakhstan 10-1.

Its fourth victory lifted the Americans to second place in Group B with 13 points, one ahead of Germany and Slovakia with a game against Latvia, which has nine points, on Tuesday to play in the preliminary round.

Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and four assists to become the United States record scorer with 43 points, one more than Patrick Kane.

Matt Boldy scored twice and had four assists, Brock Nelson and Luke Kunin both had a goal and an assist, and Gavin Brindley and Kevin Hayes also scored.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 13 saves.

In a four-goal opening period, Tkatchuk tipped in a shot by Zach Werenski on a power play to increase the U.S. lead to 2-0, and buried a rebound to make it 4-0 on a power play.

He completed his hat trick to increase the advantage to 8-0 with a one-timed shot from the right circle on another power play in the final period.

Alikhan Omirbekov scored the consolation goal for Kazakhstan when his team was 9-0 down.

In Group A, Austria beat Norway 4-1 and is tied for fourth place with Finland.

The top four from each group advance to the playoff round.

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Source: Boeser (blood clots) not expected in G7

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Source: Boeser (blood clots) not expected in G7

Vancouver Canucks right wing Brock Boeser is not expected to play in Game 7 of their second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday because of a blood-clotting issue, a source told ESPN, confirming a report.

There’s no timeline for his return to action. The Canucks had no comment on Boeser’s status.

Boeser didn’t skate in practice Sunday. Coach Rick Tocchet would only say at a media availability that “he needed the maintenance day.”

Boeser, 27, leads the Canucks in goals (7) and is tied for the lead in points (12) during the postseason. He established career highs in goals (40), points (73) and games played (81) during the regular season.

The Canucks winger has had some MVP moments during their playoff run. His hat trick in Game 4 against the Nashville Predators led them to a comeback win. Boeser’s three points in the first period of Game 3 led Vancouver to a win over Edmonton.

It’s the second significant injury for Vancouver in the playoffs after a regular season of relatively good health for the team’s core players. Starting goaltender Thatcher Demko, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best netminder, hasn’t played since Game 1 of the first round because of a knee injury. Edmonton won Game 6 at home Saturday night to force Monday’s Game 7, the only seventh game of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The winner faces the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference finals.

The Boeser injury news was first reported by Vancouver-based hockey journalist Irfaan Gaffar.

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Canes re-sign Brind’Amour off latest playoff run

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Canes re-sign Brind'Amour off latest playoff run

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff to multiyear contracts, keeping one of the best in the NHL behind the bench around for the long term.

The team announced the re-signings Sunday for Brind’Amour, assistants Jeff Daniels and Tim Gleason, goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder and video coach Chris Huffine.

“Rod has been instrumental to the success we’ve had over the last six seasons,” team president and general manager Don Waddell said. “Ever since he joined the organization 24 years ago, Rod has embodied what it means to be a Hurricane. We hope to keep him a Hurricane for life.”

Brind’Amour was in the final year of a deal reached in 2021, when he was the winner of the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach. His status had become a talking point around the NHL as jobs changed hands, though Brind’Amour — as well as Waddell — had expressed confidence that a deal would get done.

“I never had a doubt in my mind he [would] come back,” Carolina center Sebastian Aho said earlier in the day when asked about the reports of a deal. “Not surprised, I would say.”

Brind’Amour took over in 2018 to lead a franchise that had missed the playoffs for nine straight years. The Hurricanes have gone to the playoffs six times in as many seasons under the captain of Carolina’s 2006 Stanley Cup winner. Carolina has also won at least one series in each of the past six postseasons, marking the first time a team has accomplished that since the Detroit Red Wings did it from 1995 to 2000. The Canes also reached the Eastern Conference finals twice in the past six seasons.

Carolina finished three points behind the New York Rangers for the Metropolitan Division title and Presidents’ Trophy (presented to the league’s top regular-season team), another season in which it ranked among the NHL’s top teams with an aggressive forechecking style.

The Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders in five games in Round 1 then lost to the Rangers in a six-game second-round series after falling in a 3-0 hole.

Brind’Amour, 53, arrived in Raleigh in a January 2000 trade from the Philadelphia Flyers and played there until his retirement in 2010. He then spent seven seasons as an assistant coach before taking over as a first-time head coach.

Multiple players were asked earlier Sunday about Brind’Amour’s status during end-of-season interviews. None expressed concern that he wouldn’t return or that it had been any type of distraction.

“He’s one of the main pieces that turned this organization around from where it was when I first got here,” defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “So I think anyone would want him to stay as well. I know he wants to be here. I’m confident it’ll get done.”

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