Former interpreter of Shohei Ohtani (30, Los Angeles Dodgers) Mizuhara Ifei has finally admitted his guilt. Amid reports that he has started negotiations on pre-penalty adjustment, local people in Japan expected Mizuhara’s sentence.
According to a Sankei Sports report on the 11th (Korea time), international lawyer Hiroshi Kiyohara predicted Mizuhara’s sentence in an interview with TBS.
“Mizuhara has not been arrested at the moment,” she said. “It has been reported that she is making a judicial transaction with the California Central Prosecutor’s Office. In other words, the investigating agency is charging Mizuhara with federal law. The crime under federal law is quite heavy. It is a serious crime, with imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to $250,000. Mizuhara is asking for lightening the criminal law because she will admit her crime.”
“Currently, no crimes are clearly identified. In the case of the United States, the name of the crime itself changes depending on negotiations with the prosecution. There is something strange about this system of judicial transactions in the United States. The crime itself can become lighter and we don’t know what charges we will be charged with in the future,” he said, hinting at the possibility that the crime will change depending on the negotiations on sentence adjustment.
Simply admitting a crime does not seem to give you a sentence. Kiyohara said, “Mizuhara made an illegal remittance. This is a criminal act in itself, and if you admit it, you no longer have to conduct an investigation as an investigative agency. Then, I am grateful that I saved you time and effort as an investigation period,” he said, pointing out that admitting to the crime in this part could reduce the sentence.
Attorney Kiyohara suggested the possibility that if the sentence is reduced, it could end up as a fine.
“It is different from Japan. Admitting a crime itself can be turned into a light crime. Previously, he said he was imprisoned for up to five years, but if the negotiations take place, it could end up being a fine, not a prison sentence.”
Mizuhara, Ohtani’s former interpreter, heated up the Major League in late March. The reason was illegal sports gambling.
California investigators found Ohtani’s name while investigating an illegal sports gambler, and further investigation later revealed that Mizuhara had illegally bet on sports.
Mizuhara confessed his illegal sports gambling in front of the Dodgers team after Game 1 of the Seoul Series. The Dodgers fired him immediately.
However, there has been constant controversy. There were a lot of controversies over Mizuhara’s 4.5 million dollar debt. Mizuhara initially said that Ohtani paid her back, but Ohtani said that she never did so. Then, she changed her mind again. 밤알바
At the same time, doubts arose toward Ohtani. From how Ohtani was able to send money when she did not know, doubts began to arise that Ohtani was also involved in illegal sports gambling.
Ohtani returned to the United States and issued a statement in which he categorically denied the allegations. Ohtani stated that he had no idea that Mizuhara had engaged in illegal sports gambling and had never paid him back. He also stated that he had never engaged in illegal sports gambling.