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Bookie prison bound
United States District Judge John W. Holcomb has handed a relatively light sentence to the bookie who took illegal sports bets from the ex-interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star, Shohei Ohtani.
12 months and one day
Judge Holcomb on Friday sentenced Mathew Bowyer, 50, to 12 months and one day in federal prison.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California (USAO-CDC) took to X with news of the Orange County native’s sentence:
Bowyer in August 2024 confessed to one count apiece of operating an illegal gambling business, money laundering, and submitting a false tax return.
Bowyer admitted to accepting thousands of bets from Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who stole almost $17m from the Dodgers’ star to cover gambling debts with Bowyer.
Judge notes effort
Bowyer ran an unlicensed bookmaking business for five years in a state where sports betting is illegal, and at one stage had over 700 bettors using his services in California.
gamble and live an extravagant lifestyle
According to a USAO-CDC press release, the prosecuting Feds summed up Bowyer’s crimes as feeding an established operation that made millions of US$, enabling the bookie and his associates “to gamble and live an extravagant lifestyle.”
The prosecutors added that the illegal operation often exploited people the bookie “recognized were addicted and extending themselves beyond their means.”
While prosecutors sought a longer sentence, Judge Holcomb expressed being impressed by Bowyer’s recent efforts to address his gambling addiction and help others in the same boat.
While acknowledging Bowyer’s “significant” effort to reform, Holcomb stated the tax crime element made it necessary for the California man to serve some time in prison.
“There are consequences for committing these crimes.”
Coming clean
Bowyer’s attorney shared a letter by Bowyer to the court in which the father of five took responsibility for his actions, stating it is “so easy to gamble everything away and fall into despair.”
“I am very sorry and embarrassed that I facilitated such dangerous risk-taking.”
Judge Holcombe also ordered Bowyer to pay restitution of $1,613,280.
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