Shohei Ohtani Interpreter’s Bookie Narcs on Friend for Lighter Fed Sentence
Posted on: August 18, 2025, 02:40h.
Last updated on: August 19, 2025, 11:09h.
- Matt Bowyer provided feds with information on his colleague and friend, Damien LeForbes
- Bowyer is said to have acted as though he wasn’t implicating LeForbes
- Bowyer was facing up to five years in prison, but received a sentence of 15 months for cooperating with the feds
Mathew Bowyer, the former bookmaker who took the action of ex-MLB translator Ippei Mizuhara, provided federal prosecutors with information on a close friend and fellow bookie in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Staring at up to five years in prison on charges of operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering, and subscribing to a false tax return, Bowyer, 50, received a sentence of 15 months after providing the Department of Justice (DOJ) with information on Damien LeForbes, blindsiding his former friend and a man to whom Bowyer allegedly owes $1.8 million in the process.
“In light of defendant’s substantial assistance to the government, the government here moves for an eight-level departure, which brings defendant’s total offense level to 14, with an applicable Guidelines range of 15-21 months,” according to a document filed in US District Court for the Central District of California. “A low-end custodial sentence of 15 months is appropriate here, balancing the seriousness and multi-faceted nature of his conduct and need for specific and general deterrence.”
The filing directly mentions LeForbes, noting Bowyer assisted the government in its investigation into the former bookie and professional poker player.
“Defendant (Bowyer) provided information in a voluntary interview in November 2023, which contributed to the government’s ability to interpret recovered text messages and execute a search warrant on Leforbes in December 2023,” notes the DOJ. “Defendant provided additional information about Leforbes in a second interview in January 2024. These interviews and defendant’s willingness to cooperate contributed to a pre-indictment plea with Leforbes in which he pled to operating an unlawful gambling business and money laundering.”
LeForbes Said to Be Devastated
Bowyer and LeForbes were reportedly friends for years, often wagering at the same Las Vegas Strip casinos and doing business together, potentially indicating the former may have laid off some of Mizuhara’s action with the latter. During his time as a bookmaker, LeForbes was known as one of the biggest names in that field in Los Angeles and throughout California.
As a result of that relationship, LeForbes is devastated by Bowyer turning on him in exchange for a reduced sentence, an unidentified source told Casino.org. The source provided Casino.org with a screenshot of a text exchange with LeForbes confirming the gambler was taken aback by Bowyer’s leveraging of their relationship with the Justice Department.
“I went to his house the night I got raided shaken and crying,” LeForbe said in the text chain. “(Bowyer) hugged me. Tried to help me and give me advice on next steps. He knew it was coming.”
The source also noted that had Bowyer provided LeForbes with some warning that the feds were going to raid his house, the latter may have been able to take steps to protect $2 million worth of cryptocurrency, which today is worth triple that. Those assets were seized by the government.
Bowyer Reaped Rewards for Assisting Feds
The Justice Department made clear Bowyer was rewarded for cooperating at the expense of LeForbes.
Defendant’s assistance was significant, timely, and credible,” as noted in the filing. “Because the assistance helped secure two different convictions, including a high-profile one, an eight-level departure under Section 5K1.1 is warranted here.”
LeForbes, a former baseball player at UNLV and a resident of Long Beach, Calif., allegedly wagered $148 million at an unidentified Las Vegas Strip casino — rumored to be Resorts World — between January 2022 and Dec. 15, 2023. The gambler reportedly lost an estimated $12.3 million across approximately 50 visits to the unnamed casino hotel. He faces up to 15 years behind bars for money laundering and operating an illegal gambling business, and is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
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