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[Jeff P]

By Nelson Rose
Baseball’s Betting Scandal: Is Shohei Ohtani in Jeopardy:
https://www.gamblingandthelaw.com/ba...i-in-jeopardy/

Every lawyer should carry a parrot trained to say two words.

Especially criminal defense attorneys.

That way at their first meeting, the lawyer can put the parrot on the new client’s shoulder to repeat over and over again, “Don’t talk! Don’t talk!”

If you have been involved with illegal gambling, you don’t talk to anybody. Not your spouse. Not a guy in a bar. And you certainly don’t give an on-the-record interview with ESPN.

This is especially true for illegal sports betting; the one form of gambling which is clearly covered by federal law.

Shohei Ohtani, the world’s most famous and highest paid baseball player, has now been implicated by his friend and former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, who clearly needed to be given a trained parrot.

As always happens in cases like this, the stories keep changing.

The feds busted an illegal bookie in California and discovered money wires totaling $4.5 million from Ohtani. The parrot-less Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani was merely paying off his friend’s gambling debts.

Mizuhara may not have a parrot, or a competent lawyer, but Ohtani has. The LA Dodger superstar’s spokesmen and lawyers quickly said it was not true. Mizuhara stole the $4.5 million from Ohtani. And Mizuhara recanted, even before he was fired.

I am getting inquiries from the largest news outlets in the world, especially in the U.S. and Japan. And no one cares whether the bets were made on baseball. Reporters want to know if Ohtani might be guilty of violating any criminal laws.

The answer is, “Yes,” depending on the facts.

Interesting piece from Nelson Rose.

He usually has a pretty good take on the law as relates to sports betting.


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