Hours after Shohei Ohtani led Japan to a victory over Australia in the World Baseball Classic, Matt Bowyer departed the grounds of FCI Lompoc in California.
Bowyer, who handled $325 million in sports wagers from Ohtani’s ex-interpreter, reported to the federal penitentiary last October, two weeks before the World Series. As it turned out, Bowyer left the prison yard shortly before Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers began their pursuit of the club’s first-ever ‘three-peat’. Bowyer’s release on 9 March transpired before he served half of a prison sentence scheduled for 12 months and one day.
Still in federal custody, Bowyer is expected to spend the next several months at a halfway house in Orange County before his scheduled release in June. Last week, Bowyer sat down with iGB for a 90-minute interview, his first with any media outlet since his release from prison. During the day, Bowyer is allowed to leave the premises while he works for a turf company run by one of his former bookmaking associates. On the weekends, Bowyer has already seen his family several times.
“Prison was much harder than I thought it would be,” Bowyer told iGB. “I knew March would be my time, but I didn’t know the exact date. When there was about a month left, I was ecstatic. I have a much different appreciation for them now.”
The daily grind
Bowyer pleaded guilty to three charges, including felonies on transactional money laundering and operating an illegal bookmaking operation. Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s ex-interpreter, is still serving a 57-month sentence for embezzling millions from the MLB star to repay gambling debts with Bowyer’s operation.
A sizeable portion of the Lompoc population knew of Bowyer’s story – a few even read his memoir, Recalibrate. Still, Bowyer said he did not receive preferential treatment. On a typical day, Bowyer arose around 6am, about an hour before his job began as an orderly. There, he was tasked with cleaning a bathroom. For breakfast, the meal usually consisted of grits, oatmeal or powdered milk, he said. Each day, Bowyer cleaned toilets and mopped the floors during a 90-minute shift.
On one occasion, an inmate grabbed a hold of a fellow prisoner and smashed his head against the floor of a bathroom. The prisoner had the “living pulp” beaten out of him, Bowyer explained, requiring three mops to clean up all of the blood. Bowyer likened the environment inside the bathroom to a “murder scene”.
Before reporting to prison, Bowyer told iGB that he planned to work out assiduously in prison. Following lunch each day, Bowyer typically lifted weights, then hit the track for an eight-mile walk. In the afternoons, he spent several hours playing pickleball. Bowyer described himself as the second-best player on the courts.
The prison currency
While many prisons offer a plethora of classes for inmates, Bowyer indicated that few were available for the inmates at Lompoc. For those looking to learn Spanish, the prison held a class. One item – a bag of carnitas, Spanish for pork – proved to be a valuable commodity inside the prison walls. One bag, valued at $5, could be used for barter, Bowyer noted.
As part of his sentence, Bowyer must refrain from gambling for at least three years. Nevertheless, he observed rampant sports wagering behind bars. A host of inmates, who worked as local bookies on the outside, utilised tickets to facilitate the wagers. The prison sportsbooks also accepted carnitas as currency. The wagering activity is reminiscent of the gambling action inside “The Bullpen,” an early-20th century casino run by inmates in the now-shuttered Nevada State Prison.
Interestingly enough, Kalshi’s operation remained at the nascent stages when Bowyer surrendered last fall. Since then, prediction markets have flourished, with Kalshi’s valuation doubling to $22 billion.
As a former commodities broker, Bowyer is intrigued by the new asset class. Before even considering an advisory role with a prediction market, Bowyer would like to conduct extreme due diligence to ensure that such a role will not be in violation of his plea agreement.
Next steps
Prior to reporting to Lompoc, Bowyer published his memoir, which walked readers through the Mizuhara case and his larger bookmaking operations. As part of his plea, Bowyer also admitted to laundering millions of dollars through several Las Vegas Strip properties. The case has led to wholesale changes on Know-Your-Customer protocols across the famed thoroughfare. At present, Bowyer is working on a second book that details the period after his sentencing and his time inside prison.
While Bowyer initially faced 18 years in prison, he earned his release within a year. In October 2023, days after Bowyer attended an NFL game in Texas, nearly two dozen federal agents raided his Southern California villa. The raid drew comparisons to a visit Justin Paperny received from the FBI on a white-collar criminal investigation. Eventually, Paperny pleaded guilty to a breach of fiduciary duty related to a scheme involving a hedge fund colleague.
Paperny’s stint in federal prison inspired him to launch White Collar Advice, a consultancy that assists defendants with pre and post-sentencing reputation management. Upon Bowyer’s release, one of the first calls he placed was with Paperny. Bowyer informed the consultant that he was grateful for the assistance in helping him navigate through the challenging period.
“Matt, I hope you always feel this way,” Paperny wrote in a blog post. “I have been home 17 years and that feeling gradually erodes – it goes away.”
Bowyer has not abandoned plans to eventually speak with professional athletes on the pitfalls of compulsive gambling. First, he is laser-focused on returning home. Ultimately, he wants the public to know that he does not consider himself a victim.
“Most of it is over now,” Bowyer said. “I can move on with my life, rebuild and show my family what I’m made of.”
Matt Rybaltowski
Matt is primarily responsible for long-form feature coverage on complex sports betting scandals. He also provides coverage on finance, M&A and other technological developments.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/sports-betting/matt-bowyer-eyes-next-steps-after-prison-release/
