Matthew Bowyer pleaded guilty to charges of operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering, and subscribing to a false tax return.
The Southern California bookmaker who was a central figure in the Shohei Ohtani-Ippei Mizuhara scandal received a prison sentence of one year and one day on Friday, further closing the book on a saga that captivated MLB last year.
Matthew Bowyer, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of operating an unlawful gambling business, one count of money laundering, and one count of subscribing to a false tax return in August 2024. In addition to his prison time, he was ordered to pay $1,613,280 in restitution.
As part of his plea agreement, he also agreed to forfeit $257,923 in U.S. currency and $14,830 in casino chips seized by law enforcement in 2023.
Speaking with reporters after his hearing, Bowyer said he accepted the consequences for his actions:
"When you do a crime, you've got to do the time. So at the end of the day, I was doing something illegal and my message has never changed from Day 1. My children are here. Everyone who cares about me is here, and if you do something wrong, you can't enjoy all the perks and all the good things, all the illegal activities you're doing and then not expect something to happen."
It was Bowyer's illegal gambling operation that received the bulk of money that Mizuhara stole from Ohtani. Per the criminal complaint against Ohtani's former friend and interpreter, Mizuhara made more than 19,000 wagers with Bowyer from December 2021 to January 2024, racking up a net loss of $40.7 million.
To pay off the debt, Mizuhara stole $16 million from an Ohtani bank account and at one point was sending Bowyer $500,000 per week out of the account, which he controlled by changing the phone number and email address the bank had on file. When Mizuhara didn't respond to some calls, Bowyer reportedly sent him a text saying he was watching Ohtani and threatening to talk to him.
It was the federal investigation into Bowyer that ultimately doomed Mizuhara, as investigators had some understandable questions when they found all those wire transfers from an account with Ohtani's name on it. Mizuhara was ultimately sentenced to 57 months in prison for bank fraud and tax fraud.
While there was initial confusion surrounding Ohtani's involvement, and concerns he might have made bets himself, everyone involved in the situation, including Bowyer, Mizuhara, the IRS, the DOJ and MLB, have unanimously concluded that Ohtani was the unknowing victim. Bowyer reiterated that on Friday, saying part of the reason he pleaded guilty was to close the book for MLB:
"We wanted make sure that MLB, the Dodgers organization, Angels were able to get back on the field and have no distractions by telling the truth and giving all the facts ... Shohei Ohtani doesn't deserve to have any negative connotation to his name."
Former Angels player David Fletcher is also alleged to have made bets with Bowyer.
Bowyer's operation went well beyond a couple players. Per the authorities, he ran his illegal business in Los Angeles, Orange County and Las Vegas with a network of agents and sub-agents, some of them casino hosts. He also reportedly used several Costa Rica-based websites and a call center to receive and track bets.
It was previously alleged that Bowyer laundered much of the money he received by gambling it at legitimate Las Vegas casinos, racking up $7.9 million in losses at one of them.
Category: General Sports
