Ohtani's former interpreter Mizuhara gets nearly five years in prison.

Ippei Mizuhara was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for illegally transferring $17 million from Shohei Ohtani's account.

So, here’s the deal: Ippei Mizuhara, who used to translate for Shohei Ohtani, just got sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. Why? Because he embezzled nearly $17 million from Ohtani's account to cover his own gambling debts. The federal court didn’t hold back and also hit him with a restitution order of over $18 million.

Mizuhara pleaded guilty last year to felony bank fraud and messing with his taxes. He opened a bank account for Ohtani back in '18 and then pulled some sneaky moves, impersonating him over the phone to get bank employees to authorize wire transfers without Ohtani's clue. The good news here is that Ohtani is in the clear; he’s always said he never had a clue about this operation and hasn’t bet on baseball. By the way, Ohtani just signed a record $700 million deal with the Dodgers. Talk about a glow-up!

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