Oh, Ippie!

Just when we all thought the drama with Ippie Mizuhara was over, its just getting started.

Last offseason, it came out that Ippie Mizuhara, who was Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, was accused (at the time) of bank fraud, pretending to be Ohtani to the bank to take out large sums of Money ($200K) to pay an illegal bookie.

In the last 24 Hours, audio of this transaction was released by the DOJ.:

https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1882600368640807077?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1882600368640807077%7Ctwgr%5Ea3d71470d4d9d7c3d185d30bba92fc98a8408538%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F1988631561-atari-embeds.googleusercontent.com%2Fembeds%2F16cb204cf3a9d4d223a0a3fd8b0eec5d%2Finner-frame-minified.html%3Fjsh%3Dm3B2F_2Fscs2Fabc-static2F_2Fjs2Fk3Dgapi.lb.en.5oZHy0SiJxw.O2Fd3D12Frs3DAHpOoo-Hry6DG-RE4t9kNz_t6hiwmwXOmA2Fm3D__features__

So for people like me, admitadly, who thought that Ippie was taking the fall for Shohei, this rumor is squashed. This is clearly Ippie and he made no attempt to hide it either.

And to make matters worse, Ippie is now asking for a 18 month sentence, claiming addiction.

https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/1882632659396149448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1882632659396149448%7Ctwgr%5E7838f866940c309d8065e3485633c196087cb181%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F1988631561-atari-embeds.googleusercontent.com%2Fembeds%2F16cb204cf3a9d4d223a0a3fd8b0eec5d%2Finner-frame-minified.html%3Fjsh%3Dm3B2F_2Fscs2Fabc-static2F_2Fjs2Fk3Dgapi.lb.en.5oZHy0SiJxw.O2Fd3D12Frs3DAHpOoo-Hry6DG-RE4t9kNz_t6hiwmwXOmA2Fm3D__features__

Now, while I believe that he probably was underpaid and on call at all times, this is still not an excuse to steal $200K from his best friend.

I hope Ippie gets the help he needs in Jail, because the quotes that he cited in the letter are very sad, so I do wish Ippie the best, but he still does not deserve a shortened sentence.