(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
AMERICAN LEAGUE Toronto 6, Baltimore 5 NY Yankees 8, Minnesota 5 Kansas City 4, Cleveland 3 Seattle 3, Oakland 0 Chicago White Sox 2, Boston Red Sox 14
NATIONAL LEAGUE Washington 2, Atlanta 5 LA Dodgers 11, Pittsburgh 7 Arizona TBA, San Diego TBA Cincinnati 8, Chicago Cubs 4 Colorado 3, St Louis 2
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Dallas Mavericks 89, Boston Celtics 107
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Chicago Sky 79, Washington Mystics 71 New York Liberty 78, Atlanta Dream 61
Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors warms up before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers, March 9, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Brooklyn man was charged Tuesday in connection with an illegal sports betting scheme involving Jontay Porter, the former Toronto Raptors player who received a lifetime ban from the NBA in April after he bet on his own team to lose.
Porter pretended to be injured before a January game between the Raptors and the Los Angeles Clippers. According to federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, Bruce Pham placed bets on Porter’s performance, knowing Porter planned to withdraw from the game.
Porter had amassed large gambling debts to certain of the co-conspirators in the alleged scheme, the complaint says. Porter was encouraged to clear those debts by withdrawing from certain games prematurely to make sure bets on his performance were successful.
Shortly before the January game, prosecutors said Porter told Pham he would be removing himself early from the game, claiming that he was injured. As a result, a co-conspirator won $40,250, according to prosecutors.
“Whether on the court or in the casino, every point matters. As alleged, the defendant and his co-conspirators, as well as an NBA player, participated in a brazen, illegal betting scheme that had a corrupting influence on two games and numerous bets,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace. “This prosecution serves as a warning that fraud and dishonesty in professional sports will not be tolerated and those who engage in this flagrant flouting of the law will be prosecuted.”
Prior to a game on March 20, Pham and his co-conspirators discussed in a Telegram group chat that Porter would be removing himself early from the game, claiming that he felt ill, according to the criminal complaint. Pham and his co-conspirators allegedly met at a casino in Atlantic City and placed several bets on Porter. After playing just three minutes and recording zero points, three rebounds and zero assists, Porter removed himself from the game.
On April 4, in a group chat between Porter and the conspirators, Porter allegedly wrote to the group that they “might just get hit w a rico,” referring to a racketeering charge, and asked if the group chat participants had “delete[d] all the stuff” from their personal cell phones, according to the complaint.
Pham was ordered detained pending trial. Three co-conspirators charged in the scheme remain at large.
(NEW YORK) — Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for MLB star Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges related to stealing nearly $17 million from the Dodgers player in order to cover gambling debts, according to the Department of Justice.
Mizuhara, 39, agreed to plead guilty last month to one count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum of 30 years in prison, and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, which carries up to three years in prison.
The guilty plea was formally entered at a change of plea hearing Tuesday morning, after Mizuhara previously pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment last month as a procedural matter. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 25.
“I had fallen into major gambling debt. The only thing I could think was using his money to help pay for the debt,” Mizuhara told the court, according to Los Angeles ABC station KABC.
According to the plea agreement, Mizuhara helped Ohtani, who does not speak English, set up a bank account in Phoenix in 2018, during which he interpreted the login information for the player’s account. In September 2021, Mizuhara started placing sports bets with an illegal bookmaker to whom he quickly became indebted, according to the plea agreement.
“Unable to pay his gambling debts, Mizuhara orchestrated a scheme to deceive and cheat the bank to fraudulently obtain money from the account,” the DOJ previously said in a release.
Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account and updated security information so bank employees would contact him, not Ohtani, when attempting to verify wire transfers from the account, according to the plea agreement. He also impersonated Ohtani on 24 occasions in calls to the bank, according to the agreement.
From November 2021 to March 2024, Mizuhara transferred nearly $17 million from the account to associates of the bookmaker in more than 40 wires without Ohtani’s permission, according to the plea agreement.
Mizuhara also admitted in the plea agreement to falsely claiming that his total taxable income for 2022 was $136,865 when, in fact, he failed to report an additional $4.1 million in income.
“The source of the unreported income was from his scheme to defraud the bank,” the DOJ said, noting that he owes approximately $1,149,400 in additional taxes for the tax year 2022, plus additional interest and penalties.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada previously stressed that Ohtani is a victim in the case and has cooperated “fully and completely” in the investigation.
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.
Mizuhara was charged in the matter in April. Following his initial appearance in federal court on April 12, his attorney, Michael Freedman, said in a statement to ABC News that Mizuhara is “continuing to cooperate with the legal process and is hopeful that he can reach an agreement with the government to resolve this case as quickly as possible so that he can take responsibility.”
“He wishes to apologize to Mr. Ohtani, the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and his family,” the statement continued. “As noted in court, he is also eager to seek treatment for his gambling.”
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.”
(NEW YORK) — Pittsburgh shortstop Tucupita Marcano has been permanently banned from MLB for gambling more than $150,000 on baseball, according to the league.
Marcano, 24, faced the stiffest penalty of several baseball players penalized by the league on Tuesday. He gambled on at least 25 Pittsburgh Pirates games while he was playing for the team last year.
Oakland A’s pitcher Michael Kelly was suspended for one year for gambling on baseball as well. He was a minor leaguer at the time and placed bets on MLB teams, which limited his penalty.
Marcano, a Venezuelan native, signed with the Padres in the offseason, but has not played as he recovers from a knee injury suffered last July.
He allegedly bet $87,319 — out of the $150,000 — on 387 baseball bets, the league said. He did not play in any of the games, however, as he was recovering from the injury.
“Consistent with Marcano’s overall baseball betting activity, almost all of Marcano’s Pirates bets were on which Club (the Pirates or their opponent) would win the game or whether there would be more or less than a certain number of runs scored in the game,” MLB said. “Ultimately, Marcano lost all of his parlays involving the Pirates and only won 4.3% of all of his MLB-related bets overall.”
MLB continued, “There is no evidence to suggest — and Marcano denies — that any outcomes in the baseball games on which he placed bets were compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way.”
Kelly, 31, has played this season and been an important contributor out of the bullpen. He’s made 28 appearances and pitched to a 2.59 ERA. He pitched as recently as May 24. Kelly also pitched for the Cleveland Guardians in 2023 and Philadelphia Phillies in 2022.
He gambled just $99.22 on MLB games in October 2021 while he was a minor leaguer in the Houston Astros organization, and thus did not appear in any game he bet on, MLB said.
There were also three minor league players suspended for a year on Tuesday for gambling on baseball.
Padres minor league pitcher Jay Groome, Phillies minor league infielder José Rodríguez and Diamondbacks minor league pitcher Andrew Saalfrank were all suspended. Groome betted just over $453 on games in July 2021, Rodriguez bet $724 on games in September 2021 and June and July 2022, and Saalfrank gambled $445 on games in the fall of 2021 and March 2022, according to MLB.
Any player who gambles on baseball is subject to a one-year suspension, according to the league’s Rule 21, while anyone gambling on a baseball game in which they are connected is declared permanently ineligible.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE Washington 5, Cleveland 2 Atlanta 3, Oakland 1 Texas 6, Miami 0 Toronto 5, Pittsburgh 4 Milwaukee 6, Chi White Sox 3 Kansas City 4, San Diego 3 NY Yankees 7 San Francisco 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE Minnesota 4, Houston 3 Tampa Bay 4, Baltimore 3 Detroit 8, Boston 4 Seattle 5, LA Angels 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE Arizona 5, NY Mets 4 Cincinnati 5, Chi Cubs 2 LA Dodgers 4, Colorado 0 St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 4
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS Edmonton 2, Dallas 1 (Edmonton wins 4-2)
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Connecticut 69, Atlanta 50 Phoenix 87, Los Angeles 68 New York 104, Indiana 68 Minnesota 87, Dallas 76
President Joe Biden wears a helmet presented to him by the NFL Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs as he speaks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, May 31, 2024. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden got a chance to get under the helmet with this year’s Super Bowl champs as he welcomed the Kansas City Chiefs to the White House on Friday.
The visit marked the second year in a row that the team met with Biden to celebrate their win and presented the president with his own red and white helmet.
Biden wore the helmet as he commended their 2023 season, where they went 11-6, and their victory against the San Francisco 49ers in a 25–22 overtime win at Super Bowl LVIII.
“You all had your share of struggles when the doubters questioned whether you could pull it off again. Believe me, I know what that feels like,” Biden said. “But anyway, I don’t think anybody’s doubting you now.”
The president commended the team for inspiring fans across the world.
“Everyone watching, especially our children, that’s a powerful lesson about sports in the nation. We’re a great nation because we’re good people. We never give up. We look out for one another,” he said.
Travis Kelce, the team’s star tight end, got extra special attention this season after he began dating Taylor Swift last year. The pop star was frequently seen on the sidelines cheering her boyfriend on throughout the season and playoffs, which created a bigger draw to the games from nonsports fans, according to experts.
Kelce was asked by Biden to come up to the podium and talk during the event.
“My fellow Americans, it’s nice to see you all, yet again. I’m not gonna lie, President Biden, they told me if I came up here, I’d get Tased. So, I’m going to go back to my spot,” Kelce joked.
Swift was not at the White House event.
Among the other players standing behind the president was kicker Harrison Butker, who has come under fire after his May 11 commencement speech at Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts college in Kansas.
Butker criticized Biden over his abortion stance, called Pride Month a “deadly sin” and told the school’s female graduates they had been told “the most diabolical lies.” The NFL distanced itself from Butker’s statements and said the league welcomes diversity.
No one publicly addressed Butker’s comments during the White House ceremony.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid told reporters they were honored to be welcomed by the president. Mahomes said he thought it was cool that Biden put the helmet on.
