Santa Ana, Calif. – An illegal dealer who bets thousands of bets from former Los Angeles Dodgers interpreter Shohei Ohtani was sentenced to more than a year in prison Friday.
U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb sentenced Mathew Bowyer to 12 months and two years of supervised release. He also ordered Bowyer to participate in gambling addiction counseling and surrendered to authorities by October 10. Bowyer paid $1.6 million in compensation before his sentence.
Bowyer, 50, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to run an illegal gambling business, launder money and file false tax returns.
Holcomb said tax-related offences “are important and need to be taken into account.” “Justice requires some custody time.”
Prosecutors said in court documents before sentencing that they sought Bowyer's 15-month prison sentence for his assistance to secure a conviction against Ohtani's former interactor, Ippei Mizuhara and another Southern California bookmaker.
Bass asked Judge Holcomb to sentence Bowyer to a family ban, saying Bowyer's crimes were not victims outside the government and he was recovering from his gambling addiction. She said Bowyer was unaware that Mizuhara was stealing his gambling debt from Ohtani and she feared the media interests in the case would confront her clients.
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“He doesn't think he's using anyone,” Bass said. “We didn't know it would be a high-profile case… Suddenly, there was a lot of interest in the media.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Williams noted that Bowyer's crimes had caused social harm, and his case was more than “a troubled addict.”
“He's going out to talk to the news media, talking about Mr. Michi, the business he's in, and he enjoys a certain infamousity,” Williams told the court.
At a press conference after the hearing, Boye apologized to Ohtani. “If I were to meet shohei ohtani, I would tell him, sorry, his name is a little bit different about it, just involved in this situation,” he said. “At the end of the day, he is an innocent guy who is just playing baseball and performing the highest.”
Bowyer's colleague Ryan Boyajian's actor Ryan Boyajian received Ohtani's bank account and participated in the sentencing with Bowyer's family and friends. ESPN had previously reported that Boyajian gained immunity due to his testimony. Boyajian declined to comment on Friday.
According to court documents, Bowyer operates a large-scale gambling business and has more than 700 clients. New York State began betting with Bowyer after meeting in a poker game in San Diego in 2021. Between December 2021 and January 2024, New York State continued at least 19,000 bets, losing nearly $41 million and stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani to repay debts.
Bowyer told ESPN that he knew within 30 days that Mizuhara was a problematic gambler due to the frequency and type of bets he was making.
“He must have been betting all night long,” Bowy said. “I've never seen anything like that. $100,000 from Ukraine to Turkey. $100,000 from Saudi Arabia.”
After ESPN began asking questions about millions of wire transfers, Mizuhara's behavior was discovered in March 2024, sent from Ohtani's bank account to Bowyer's operations.
Remahara is currently serving 57 months in Pennsylvania’s low-security prison FCI Allenwood Low.