Shohei Ohtani News: Ex-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara posts bond, conditions of release revealed

Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter and friend Ippei Mizuhara surrendered to authorities on Friday at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. He was released on a $25,000 bond but will return to court on May 9 for his next hearing.

After posting the bond, Judge Maria Audero gave Mizuhara a long list of conditions to be met, per The Athletic's Sam Blum. One of these conditions is that Mizuhara is barred from having any contact with Ohtani.

Outside of having no contact with Ohtani, Mizuhara had to give up his passport, and he is not allowed inside a casino. One final order Mizuhara was given is that he must attend a program to treat his gambling addiction and find employment.

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Gambling was not the only thing Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was focused on

Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara (Image via Getty)

Recently it was reported that Ippei Mizuhara had stolen $16 million from Shohei Ohtani. While much of it went back to the sportsbook, he spent a good chunk of change on baseball cards.

It was reported that Mizuhara spent $325,000 on cards from January to March of this year. Mizuhara purchased the cards from eBay and Whatnot and had them delivered to the Dodgers clubhouse.

Mizuhara used the alias "Jay Min," to keep it a secret. He bought roughly 1,000 cards, giving him an average of $325 per card. Some players that Mizuhara collected included Ohtani, Juan Soto, and Yogi Berra.

According to the affidavit, it is believed that Mizuhara was planning on selling the cards. Given the recent boom of sports cards over the last few years, there is quite a lot of money to be made.

This situation has rocked the baseball world. Luckily for Ohtani and the Dodgers, we are almost at the end of this story.