Ippei Mizuhara is behind bars — Shohei Ohtani‘s former right-hand man and interpreter has surrendered to federal authorities to start out his 57-month jail sentence.

A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to TMZ Sports activities that 40-year-old Mizuhara reported to the Federal Correctional Establishment Allenwood Low facility in Pennsylvania on Monday … hours earlier than the Japanese celebrity is slated to make his first pitching begin for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months in jail this previous February for stealing greater than $16 million from Ohtani … and was initially ordered to give up in March, however the date was pushed again at his legal professional’s request.

The Dodgers fired Mizuhara in March 2024 after Ohtani’s attorneys claimed he engaged in a “large theft” of the World Sequence champ’s financial institution accounts. He was accused of taking funds from Ohtani to put bets and pay money owed to an unlawful bookmaker.

“He took benefit of his place of belief to make the most of Mr. Ohtani and gasoline a harmful playing behavior,” United States Legal professional Martin Estrada mentioned. “My workplace is dedicated to vindicating victims all through our neighborhood and guaranteeing that wrongdoers face justice.”

Mizuhara was dealing with as much as 33 years in jail … however in the end reached an settlement, pleading responsible to financial institution fraud and submitting a false tax return.

Ohtani addressed the matter on the time … saying, “I am very saddened and shocked that somebody who I trusted has performed this.”

The 30-year-old has denied having any data of Ippei’s playing exercise or the debt he incurred from it — which reached $40 million within the adverse.