Connect with us

Published

on

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.

A spokesperson for Ohtani declined to comment.

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 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,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada in a press 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 did not speak English, relied on his Japanese translator to help him with everything from answering questions at press conferences, transacting with financial advisors and sports agents, and 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.

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 September 2023, Mizuhara told Ohtani he needed $60,000 for dental work, which Ohtani arrange 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.

ESPN’s Tisha Thompson contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Oilers’ 5th comeback win in row sets NHL record

Published

on

By

Oilers' 5th comeback win in row sets NHL record

LAS VEGAS — Zach Hyman scored from just above the right circle with 3:02 left to put his team ahead for good, and the Edmonton Oilers rallied yet again this postseason to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the second-round series.

The Oilers, the defending Western Conference champions who came back from 2-0 down, set an NHL record with their fifth consecutive playoff comeback victory.

“We’re a patient group, we’re a veteran team. The guys here have been playing a lot of playoffs throughout the years,” Edmonton defenseman John Klingberg said. “They know what it takes. Just stick to our game, and take it game by game.”

Vegas, which had just seven shots on goal over the final two periods, lost a playoff game in regulation after leading by at least two goals for the first time. The Golden Knights are 47-4 overall in the postseason with that kind of lead.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, and Corey Perry and Connor Brown scored the other goals. Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid each had two assists. McDavid now has four consecutive postseasons with at least 10 assists for fourth best in league history. Calvin Pickard was barely tested after the first period and finished with 15 shots.

“It gives you a great opportunity,” Hyman said of winning the opener on the road. “You steal one in their rink, and now, you have a chance to take both. We haven’t been in that spot a lot. It’s nice to get the first one out of the way early.”

Mark Stone scored both goals for the Golden Knights to tie Jonathan Marchessault‘s franchise record with 36 for his Vegas career. It also extended his goal-scoring streak to three games. Adin Hill made 24 saves.

Both star-studded top lines delivered in the first period, with Stone scoring twice, the first on a double-minor power play. Edmonton’s top unit cut the deficit in half with 3:34 left when Perry deked Hill for an open net with McDavid and Draisaitl getting assists on the play.

Neither team scored in the second period even though the Oilers outshot Vegas 12-1. The Golden Knights had never been held to fewer than two shots on goal in a regulation playoff period.

Edmonton didn’t waste a chance early in the third, tying the score 57 seconds in when Draisaitl backhanded a shot off the boards and off Hill.

Hyman, who earlier in the shift took a stick to the face from Kaedan Korczak, broke the tie in the closing minutes, and Brown sealed the win 1:16 later.

“We were kind of all over the place in the first 10 minutes,” Perry said in speaking with Sportsnet after the win. “But we found our footing, found our game. We started moving the puck, and making plays. And then, we played well defensively, and kept the puck out of our net.”

Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo did not play because of an illness, allowing Korczak to make his first career postseason start. Vegas also was without Pavel Dorofeyev, who led the team with 35 goals this season, for the second game in a row because of an undisclosed injury. Coach Bruce Cassidy has described him as day to day.

Game 2 is Thursday night in Las Vegas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Canes’ dominant 33-shot effort ‘paid off’ in OT

Published

on

By

Canes' dominant 33-shot effort 'paid off' in OT

WASHINGTON — Jaccob Slavin scored in overtime, Frederik Andersen made 13 saves in his return from injury and the Carolina Hurricanes outlasted the Washington Capitals 2-1 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

Logan Stankoven started the comeback with his goal midway through the third period off a turnover, beating Logan Thompson after Aliaksei Protas‘ errant pass off Washington teammate Alex Alexeyev‘s right skate put the puck on Jesperi Kotkaniemi‘s stick. After failing to score on a power play late in regulation, Slavin scored 3:06 into OT from just inside the blue line to give Carolina the series lead.

The result capped a dominant effort by the road team, despite the fact that it trailed for most of the game. Carolina finished with 33 shots on net, compared with just 14 for Washington. All told, six Hurricanes had at least three shots on net, including Slavin, who finished with five.

“We were all over it, and we knew we had to just throw everything at the net,” Slavin said. “That mentality paid off there at the end.”

Andersen, who wasn’t tested much, allowed only an early second-period goal to Protas in improving to 4-1 this postseason. Andersen was back after getting knocked out of Game 4 and missing Game 5 of the first round against the New Jersey Devils with an apparent head injury.

“Just trying to take what comes my way and be in that moment all the time and just stay with it,” Andersen said. “You don’t know when that next big save’s going to happen.”

Just a week ago, Andersen had to sit and watch as his teammates defeated the Devils in double overtime of Game 5 to secure the series. A week later, he was back, delivering the kind of quality goaltending Carolina has gotten from him whenever he has been healthy.

“Just really been looking forward to this for a while,” Andersen said. “Happy we could start off on the right foot.”

Carolina remained the only team perfect on the penalty kill this postseason, keeping Washington’s power play off the board twice to improve to 17-of-17. That, along with Kotkaniemi and Stankoven taking advantage of Protas’ mistake and Slavin scoring with Seth Jarvis screening Thompson, was the difference.

“I thought our guys played hard every shift. Right from the start of the game, I liked how we were playing,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Obviously, we were down, but yeah, there’s a certain game plan. And I thought we were on it tonight.”

Game 2 is Thursday night in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Giants’ 9-run 11th sets Wrigley record, KO’s Cubs

Published

on

By

Giants' 9-run 11th sets Wrigley record, KO's Cubs

CHICAGO — Patrick Bailey hit a tiebreaking single in San Francisco‘s nine-run 11th inning, and the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 14-5 on Tuesday night.

Bailey drove in Christian Koss with a liner to center against Ryan Pressly (2-2). Jung Hoo Lee had a run-scoring single, and Matt Chapman singled home two more runs in San Francisco’s highest-scoring inning of the season.

The nine runs are the most in an extra inning since the Angels scored nine in the 13th inning on Aug. 16, 2009. It is also the highest-scoring extra inning at Wrigley Field, surpassing the seven-run 10th by the New York Giants on June 18, 1921.

Lee also hit a two-run homer as San Francisco bounced back from an ugly 9-2 loss to Chicago on Monday night. Chapman, who committed two of the Giants’ four errors in the series opener, had three hits and scored twice.

The Cubs trailed 5-3 before rallying in the ninth, handing Justin Verlander another no-decision after he was in position for his first win with the Giants.

Justin Turner bounced a pinch-hit RBI single into right field against Ryan Walker. After Ian Happ struck out swinging for the second out, Kyle Tucker greeted Erik Miller (2-0) with a hard grounder back up the middle, bringing home the tying run.

Verlander pitched five innings of three-run ball. The three-time AL Cy Young Award winner signed a $15 million, one-year contract with the Giants in January.

Verlander, 42, is winless in eight consecutive starts for the first time in his 20 major league seasons.

Miguel Amaya hit a two-run homer for NL Central-leading Chicago, which had won four of five. Dansby Swanson had two hits and scored twice while extending his hitting streak to eight games.

Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong robbed Mike Yastrzemski of extra bases with a leaping grab at the wall in the third. Crow-Armstrong also took a hit away from Lee with a sliding catch in the fifth.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Trending