Ohtani's ex-interpreter Mizuhara's prison release date pushed back again

Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter who betrayed Shohei Ohtani, will be staying behind bars a little longer. His prison release date has been postponed again, and Japanese media have described the delay as a "mystery".

Mizuhara first met Ohtani when he worked as the English interpreter for the Nippon-Ham Fighters, Ohtani's old team in Japan. When Ohtani moved to Major League Baseball, Mizuhara followed and stayed by his side almost everywhere he went.

Then came March 2024. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara after allegations that he took money from Ohtani's account to pay illegal bookmaking debts, a scandal that shocked both MLB and Japan.

In February 2025, a US federal judge sentenced him to 57 months in prison for bank fraud and ordered him to pay about $17 million back to Ohtani.

Now the date he is due to walk free has moved once more.