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(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — The former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani now faces federal charges over allegations he stole millions from MLB’s highest-paid player in a gambling scheme, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Ippei Mizuhara has been charged with bank fraud for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani to “finance his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said during a press briefing.

Estrada claimed Mizuhara committed fraud on a “massive scale” to “plunder” Ohtani’s bank account to pay for his gambling debts.

Mizuhara had helped Ohtani, who did not speak or understand English, set up his bank account in 2018 in Arizona and “used that familiarity” to later steal the funds from Ohtani to help pay for illegal sports bets, the DOJ alleged. He is accused of wiring more than $16 million in unauthorized transfers from Ohtani’s checking account from November 2021 to January 2024, the DOJ said. He is also accused of impersonating Ohtani over the phone with the bank to approve wire transfers to the bookmakers, the DOJ said.

Estrada stressed that Ohtani is considered a victim in the case and has cooperated “fully and completely” in the investigation.

“There is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Ohtani authorized the over $16 million of transfers from his account to the bookmakers,” Estrada said.

Any winnings were deposited in Mizuhara’s own personal bank account, not any account owned by Ohtani, and the ex-interpreter allegedly admitted to a bookmaker to stealing from Ohtani, according to Estrada. Ohtani also provided his cellphone to investigators, who did not find any evidence to suggest that he was aware of or involved in the illegal gambling activity, the DOJ said.

“Our investigation has revealed that due to the position of trust that he occupied with Mr. Ohtani, Mr. Mizuhara had unique access to Mr. Ohtani’s finances,” Estrada said. “Mr. Mizuhara used and abused that position of trust in order to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani.”

Bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, Estrada said.

Mizuhara is expected to appear in the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles in the coming days. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

The federal investigation is being conducted by the Los Angeles offices of IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations, the main investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Dodgers announced they had fired the Japanese interpreter on March 20, after the gambling controversy surfaced. The team did not provide a specific reason for Mizuhara’s termination.

Ohtani addressed the scandal for the first time on March 25 during a press conference. In a prepared statement, Ohtani said through an interpreter, “I am very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this.”

“I never bet on baseball or any other sports,” Ohtani continued. “I never asked somebody to do that on my behalf and I have never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports.”

The 29-year-old pitching and hitting star, who signed a $700 million deal in the offseason to join the Dodgers, claimed he did not know about Mizuhara’s gambling until after a Dodgers game in Korea the prior week.

“Up until a couple days ago, I didn’t even know that this was happening,” he said at the time.

Mizuhara had worked with the Dodgers as Ohtani’s interpreter after serving in the same capacity with the Angels. Ohtani and Mizuhara’s relationship dates back to 2013, when Ohtani played for the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League and Mizuhara was an interpreter for the team.

Ohtani has been playing for the Dodgers throughout the scandal, batting .333 with three home runs and eight RBIs for National League-leading Los Angeles. He is not pitching this season as he recovers from elbow surgery.

MLB announced it was investigating the situation last month, two days after the Dodgers fired Mizuhara.

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(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — The former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani now faces federal charges over allegations he stole millions from MLB’s highest-paid player in a gambling scheme, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Ippei Mizuhara has been charged with bank fraud for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani to “finance his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said during a press briefing.

The federal investigation is being conducted by the Los Angeles offices of IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations, the main investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Dodgers announced it had fired the Japanese interpreter on March 20, after the gambling controversy surfaced. The team did not provide a specific reason for Mizuhara’s termination.

Ohtani addressed the scandal for the first time on March 25 during a press conference. In a prepared statement, Ohtani said through an interpreter, “I am very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this.”

“I never bet on baseball or any other sports,” Ohtani continued. “I never asked somebody to do that on my behalf and I have never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports.”

The 29-year-old pitching and hitting star, who signed a $700 million deal in the offseason to join the Dodgers, claimed he did not know about Mizuhara’s gambling until after a Dodgers game in Korea the prior week.

“Up until a couple days ago, I didn’t even know that this was happening,” he said at the time.

Mizuhara had worked with the Dodgers as Ohtani’s interpreter after serving in the same capacity with the Angels. Ohtani and Mizuhara’s relationship dates back to 2013, when Ohtani played for the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League and Mizuhara was an interpreter for the team.

MLB announced it was investigating the situation last month, two days after the Dodgers fired Mizuhara.

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(FLORENCE, Colo.) — The notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has asked a federal judge to reinstate his telephone call and visiting privileges at the supermax prison in Colorado, where he’s serving a life sentence.

“Sorry to bother you again with the request that I have asked you before with regards to my wife, Emma Coronel,” Guzmán wrote to federal judge Brian Cogan in a letter dated March 20 and filed Tuesday in a New York district court.

“I ask that you please authorize her to visit me and to bring my daughters to visit me, since my daughters can only visit me when they are on school break, since they are studying in Mexico,” he wrote.

The Tuesday filing includes a handwritten envelope sent to the judge from Guzmán, who was convicted in 2019 of running the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico.

In November 2021, Emma Coronel Aispuro was sentenced to 36 months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering and conspiring to distribute cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana for import into the United States. She was also ordered to pay almost $1.5 million in fines.

Aispuro was also accused of conspiring with others to assist Guzmán in his July 2015 escape from Altiplano prison, and prosecutors said she also planned with others to arrange another prison escape for the drug kingpin before his extradition to the U.S. in January 2017. She was released from her California halfway house in September 2023.

In the March 20 letter, Guzmán writes that his wife is the only person who can visit him in prison because she lives in California, and other relatives would require visas to visit him.

“I also bother you to continue giving me the two 15-minute calls a month that you authorized me (one call every 15 days), since in May of 2023, the facility stopped giving me calls with my daughters,” he wrote. “And I haven’t had calls with them for seven months.”

“I have asked when they are going to give me a call with my daughters and the staff here told me that the FBI agent who monitors the calls does not answer. That’s all they’ve told me,” he continued. “I ask you to please continue giving me the two calls that you authorized me per month. I don’t understand why the prosecutor who is in charge of the SAMs Rules stopped authorizing calls with my daughters.”

Guzmán said what is being done to him is “unprecedented discrimination” and is asking the judge to intervene.

Guzmán was convicted in 2019 of conducting a continuing criminal enterprise, including large-scale narcotics violations and a murder conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracies, unlawful use of a firearm and a money laundering conspiracy. A federal appeals court in January 2022 upheld the conviction after Guzmán sought to overturn it in Brooklyn federal court on 10 grounds. The appellate court determined that “none of these claims has merit.”

Under Guzmán’s leadership, the Sinaloa cartel imported more than 1 million kilograms of cocaine and hundreds of kilograms of heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine into the U.S. Trial evidence proved the cartel used murder, kidnapping, torture, bribery of officials and other illegal methods to control territory throughout Mexico and to subdue opposition.

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(NEWPORT NEWS, VA.) — The former assistant principal of Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, where a 6-year-old shot his teacher in January 2023, has been indicted for child abuse, according to court documents.

Ebony Parker is charged with eight counts of felony child abuse with disregard for life for the shooting, which left first grade teacher Abby Zwerner with life-threatening injuries.

Parker resigned from her position shortly after the shooting and has not made any public comments on it since.

Parker was indicted in March, but the documents were unsealed Tuesday. Parker was released from jail on bond Wednesday morning at 2:36 a.m., according to the Newport News Sherriff’s Office.

Zwerner is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, accusing administrators of negligence that allegedly allowed the shooting to take place.

Zwerner’s lawyers pointed to the charges against Parker as another sign of the school district’s failings.

“These charges are very serious and underscore the failure of the school district to act to prevent the tragic shooting of Abby Zwerner,” attorneys Diane Toscano, Kevin Biniazan and Jeffrey Breit said in a statement. “The school board continues to deny their responsibility to Abby, and this indictment is just another brick in the wall of mounting failures and gross negligence in their case.”

Parker is accused of disregarding at least three teachers’ warnings that the 6-year-old might be carrying a gun, telling them he “has small pockets,” suggesting he wouldn’t be able to conceal a weapon, according to the lawsuit.

Just an hour before the shooting, a school counselor asked Parker to check if the boy had a gun, but she declined to do so, the lawsuit alleges.

In a report released Wednesday, the special grand jury investigating the case said there were eight bullets in the gun. The child allegedly tried to fire a second time, but the gun jammed.

Parker is charged with eight counts — “one count for each of the eight bullets that endangered all the students in Ms. Abigal Zwerner’s first grade classroom,” the Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said in a press release Wednesday.

“In releasing the Special Grand Jury’s report, we acknowledge the harm inflicted on all the children in Ms. Zwerner’s classroom that day,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn.

According to the report, questions remain about the whereabouts of the boy’s disciplinary records after the shooting. There should have been two sets of physical records — one in the main office, and one in Zwerner’s classroom — but police who executed a search warrant did not find the documents in either place, according to the report.

“Every other students file was in both locations,” the report states. “The child’s was the only file that was in neither location.”

Police asked about the missing files, after which another school administrator returned the main office file, which had been in either her home or car, the report states.

The second file, which should have been in Zwerner’s classroom, was never found, according to the report.

After the release of the grand jury report, Zwerner’s lawyers released a new statement, saying, “The grand jury report reveals a systemic failure that led to the shooting of Abby Zwerner. Most shocking is the apparent cover up of disciplinary records before and after the shooting. We are grateful for the work of the special grand jury and the answers they have provided this community.”

An attorney representing Parker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Richmond, Virginia, ABC affiliate WVEC was unable to reach Parker for comment at an address listed as her home in court records.

The 6-year-old’s mother, Deja Taylor, was sentenced in November to 21 months in federal prison on firearm and drug charges. She was also sentenced in December to two years in state prison for child neglect associated with the shooting.

Zwerner said she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression and still has nightmares about the incident.

“One of the big moments for me that stays in my head, more so than some other moments, is the look on the student’s face when he pulled out the firearm,” Zwerner said. “It’s a haunting look.”

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(BLACKFOOT, Idaho) — An 85-year-old Idaho woman is being hailed as a “hero” for gunning down a home-invasion suspect with a handgun she kept under her pillow after he allegedly handcuffed her to a chair, pistol whipped her and threatened numerous time to kill her, authorities said.

Christine Jenneiahn survived the harrowing incident at her home near Blackfoot, Idaho, after being shot multiple times by alleged assailant 39-year-old Derek Condon, who died in her kitchen when the octogenarian turned the tables on him and shot him twice with her .357 Magnum, authorities said.

She told investigators she decided to use deadly force to protect her and her disabled son, saying it was “now or never” as she feared the suspect was otherwise going to kill her.

“This case presents an easy analysis of self-defense and justifiable homicide,” Bingham County, Idaho, Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Jolley said in a statement released this week, clearing Jenneiahn of any wrongdoing. “It also presents one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have heard of.”

Jenneiahn, who lives in a rural area with a disabled son, told police she was awakened around 2 a.m. on March 13 by a stranger wearing a military jacket and a black ski mask and standing over her bed pointing a gun and a flashlight at her, according to investigators.

Investigators suspect Condon entered the home by breaking a window and hit Jenneiahn in the head with a pistol while she was in her bed, according to Jolley.

Jenneiahn told investigators Condon allegedly took her into her living room, handcuffed her to a wooden chair and “asked her where the valuables were kept in her home, and placed a pistol against her head,” according to an incident report.

The woman told Condon there were two safes downstairs but that she didn’t have much, according to the report.

When the assailant went downstairs, leaving her alone in the living room, Jenneiahn told investigators she dragged the chair she was handcuffed to back to her bedroom to retrieve the gun she kept under her pillow. She told investigators she went back into the living room and hid the revolver between the armrest and cushion of a couch she was seated next to and waited to see what Condon did next, according to the report.

When Condon returned, he allegedly became angry with Jenneiahn for not telling him her son was in the house and again allegedly threatened to kill her, according to the report. That’s when she lunged for her gun hidden in the couch and opened fire on Condon, hitting him twice.

Condon allegedly returned fire, emptying his 9mm pistol, leaving Jenneiahn with gunshot wounds to her abdomen, leg, arm and chest, according to the report.

Condon apparently collapsed in the kitchen and died while Jenneiahn remained on the floor of her living room bleeding and handcuffed to the chair for 10 hours until her son came upstairs and handed her the phone to call 911, according to the report.

Citing Idaho’s “stand your ground law,” Jolley said Jenneiahn was justified in using any means necessary to defend herself.

“Any reasonable person would believe it necessary to defend themselves or their disabled child under such circumstances,” Jolley said in his decision released Tuesday. “That Christine survived this encounter is truly incredible. Her grit, determination, and will to live appear to be what shaved her that night.”

He said that if Condon had survived the incident, he would have been charged with felony attempted murder, kidnapping, burglary, aggravated battery and grand theft.

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(NEW YORK) — O.J. Simpson, the former football great who was accused of and ultimately acquitted of the brutal 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, has died, according to his family. He was 76.

“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace,” a statement from his family said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — A deadly storm is bringing extreme rainfall and dangerous tornadoes to the South, with the severe weather stretching from Texas to Louisiana to Mississippi to Alabama to Florida.

One death was reported in Scott County, Mississippi, according to Mississippi Emergency Management officials.

At least one person in Mississippi was injured and at least 72 homes across the state have been damaged, officials said.

Three tornadoes have been confirmed so far: two in Louisiana and one in Texas.

One of the confirmed tornadoes ripped through Slidell, Louisiana, about 30 miles outside of New Orleans, damaging buildings and downing power lines as rain pounded the town.

More than 50 people have been rescued so far in Slidell, and some were taken to hospitals for their injuries, none believed to be life-threatening, according to local police. Many of the injuries came at a heavily damaged apartment complex that had the second-floor roof ripped off.

In a press conference Wednesday evening, Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal confirmed there were no deaths or major injuries as a result of the tornado.

However, Fandal said authorities have described the damage in Slidell and parts of St. Tammany Parish as “catastrophic.”

According to authorities, hundreds of homes were damaged from the storm in St. Tammany Parish, and likely just under a hundred were damaged within the city limits of Slidell. Over 50 people were evacuated from an apartment complex damaged by the storm, Slidell Fire Chief Chris Kaufmann said in the briefing.

A tornado watch remains in effect through Wednesday evening along coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and near Panama City, Florida.

Severe flooding is also a serious threat due to the torrential rain.

More than 150,000 customers lost power in Louisiana and many schools across the state are closed.

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(WASHINGTON) — One person was killed and five others injured, including two children, after gunmen opened fire in a residential area of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, police said.

A suspect vehicle is being sought in connection with the shooting, police said.

The incident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. ET in the Carver Langston neighborhood in Northeast D.C., on the 1100 block of 21st Street, NE, police said.

Based on preliminary information, the suspects exited a vehicle and “began shooting into the crowd” outside, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith told reporters.

One man was killed in the shooting, Smith said. Two men, one woman and a 9-year-old boy were transferred to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, she said.

A 12-year-old boy also arrived at a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound from the shooting, Smith said.

Police said they are searching for a light blue Toyota sedan “possibly occupied with two shooters inside” in connection with the incident.

“This is another example … of violence that we cannot, we just cannot accept in our communities,” Smith said, calling it a “senseless act” of gun violence.

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(NEW YORK) — Federal authorities have arrested a man accused of detonating an explosive device outside the office of the Alabama attorney general in late February.

Kyle Calvert, 26, of Irondale, Alabama, was arrested Wednesday on charges of malicious use of an explosive and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to the Department of Justice.

The device was set off on Feb. 24 at approximately 3:42 a.m. outside the Montgomery office of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, authorities said. No one was injured and the contents of the exploded device were only discovered by staffers from the attorney general’s office when they arrived at work the next morning, authorities said.

Agents who recovered the exploded materials determined the device came in a coffee container-like vessel and was packed with gasoline, a mortar, firecrackers and nails “to increase its destructive capability,” according to court filings.

The FBI pulled surveillance footage from around the area that showed the subject placing stickers around Montgomery before planting the explosive device, according to court filings. One of the stickers read “Support your local antifa” while others included phrases such as “EAT THE RICH,” “FEMINIST ACTION” and “ABOLISH ICE,” according to the filings.

Investigators later tracked down Calvert through a vehicle the subject was seen in prior to and after the incident, according to the filings. They also compared surveillance footage of Calvert from a prior employer to the footage of the subject captured at the scene and saw both had a similar “unique gait,” the filings stated. Calvert also posted a photo to social media wearing goggles that were “identical” to ones worn by the subject who detonated the explosives, according to the filings.

Calvert allegedly posted about his “violent impulses” and his frustrations with the government on social media, according to the filings. “How the f— are we not killing the government right now!” Calvert reportedly said in a video posted on Dec. 12, 2023, according to the filings.

Investigators also spoke to a more recent employer of Calvert, who reported he was exhibiting “strange behavior” at work, according to the filings.

Calvert was taken into custody on Wednesday following a grand jury indictment. He will be represented by a federal defender though online records do not list the name of an attorney. ABC News left a message with the Federal Defenders for the Middle District of Alabama.

If convicted, Calvert faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, according to the DOJ.

A possible motive has not been released.

“Thanks to the work of the FBI and our state and local law enforcement partners, this defendant is being held accountable for allegedly detonating an explosive device outside of the Alabama Attorney General’s Office,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The Justice Department has no tolerance for acts of violence targeting those who serve the public.”

The Alabama attorney general expressed relief at news of the arrest.

“Although more information will be provided in the weeks to come, I think it is safe to say that this was not a random act of violence,” Marshall said in a statement. “We are grateful to our federal and local partners for their assistance in this matter and are pleased that the offender faces federal charges carrying significant prison time.”

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(NEW YORK) — A 21-year-old man has died while attempting to perform a “high-risk skiing stunt” trying to jump the width of a U.S. highway in Colorado, authorities say.

The incident occurred on Tuesday at approximately 3 p.m. when the Grand County Communications Center in Colorado received a 911 call regarding a skiing accident on Highway 40, just west of Berthoud Pass Summit about reports of a 21-year-old male skier who was found “unconscious and not breathing,” according to a statement from the Grand County Sheriff’s Office released on Wednesday.

“The preliminary investigation revealed that the victim was attempting to perform a high-risk skiing stunt by trying to clear the width of Highway 40 and unfortunately lacked the necessary speed and distance and subsequently landed on the highway pavement,” authorities said. “The victim had been wearing a helmet and other protective gear.”

Officials initiated CPR on the man but could not resuscitate him.

“Emergency responders arrived on scene and determined that the male subject was deceased and the Grand County Coroner’s Office was notified to respond to the scene,” according to Grand County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident impacted Highway 40 traffic in both directions while investigators processed the scene and maintained the privacy of the victim, police say.

The Grand County Coroner’s Office has now assumed primary jurisdiction over this case and will release the victim’s identity and cause and manner of death “when appropriate,” authorities said.

The investigation into the accident is currently ongoing.

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