Santa Ana, California – An Orange County man who ran a sprawling illegal gambling business with ties to professional athletes and Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb sentenced 50-year-old Mathew R. Bowyer of San Juan Capistrano to 12 months and one day in prison, ordering him to also pay $1.6 million in restitution. Bowyer had pleaded guilty last summer to operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering, and filing a false tax return.
Prosecutors described his case as far more than a lapse in judgment. In their words, Bowyer ran a “multi-year operation that raked in millions” while exploiting vulnerable gamblers and concealing the proceeds through multiple accounts and casinos. At its peak, the business counted more than 700 bettors, funneled through websites hosted in Costa Rica and even a dedicated call center…