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Former WPT Champ Blieden Sentenced for Embezzlement

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

The American court system can be a delay-filled experience for many. It was for Dennis Blieden, though he probably didn’t mind.

The one-time World Poker Tour champion and wanna-be poker pro pleaded guilty to some of the federal crimes levied against him in November 2019. Just this week, a judge in the US District Court for the Central District of California finally handed down a sentence in the case. Blieden is headed to federal prison for 6.5 years.

Lots of poker players fade out of the spotlight, move on to other interests or jobs, turn up in unlikely places. Most of them, thankfully, don’t end up in prison.

Big Story in 2019

In 2019, we told a story.

As far as the poker community was concerned, that story started in 2018 when he won a World Poker Tour title. He took down the WPT L.A. Poker Classic Main Event for $1M. Dennis Blieden was a 28-year-old Cincinnati native who worked full-time as the VP of Finance for a digital marketing company called StyleHaul based in Los Angeles.

As with many recreational poker players who win a big tournament, he quickly faded from the poker spotlight. That was until the following year. The US Attorney’s Office of the Department of Justice for the Central District of California arrested him in July 2019 on charges of embezzling $22M from the company for which he worked. A federal grand jury indicted him on 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of forfeiture, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

The court documents accused Blieden of embezzling money in various ways from StyleHaul and then using it for everything from personal expenses to investing in cryptocurrency and buying in to poker tournaments.

In November 2019, Blieden pleaded guilty to one wire fraud charge and aggravated identity theft. It was a part of a plea agreement that reduced his potential maximum sentence from 200 years in federal prison to 22 years.

Sentencing Delays

Per the DOJ, US District Judge Andre Birotte was to sentence Blieden on March 20, 2020. A few weeks earlier, all parties agreed to move the sentencing date out to June 5, 2020.

And then…a pandemic happened. It threw a wrench into everything. In addition, there were motions to seal documents back and forth throughout the rest of 2020. The sentencing date moved to January 2021, then to February and then April 2021. It moved to May, then June 4, and finally to June 9.

That actually did happen.

Victim Statements

Prior to the June 9 court date, StyleHaul submitted a victim impact statement. Founder and original CEO (for eight years) Stephanie Horbaczewski wanted the court to know that Blieden did more than steal money; “Dennis destroyed lives.” After she worked to develop his career and trust her growing company to him, she has had to defend against a lawsuit based on false information from Blieden. Everyone in management had to clear their names at their own expense. She also asserted that he shrugged off his indictment to a former finance department employee at the company.

“Dennis belongs in prison,” Horbaczewski wrote. “He’s dangerous, completely devoid of real emotion or remorse about his crimes, and I am certain he will commit them again.”

An attorney for StyleHaul and Blieden’s associated victims wrote to the court that StyleHaul had to close its doors several months after Blieden’s indictment, not only losing the $22.6M that he stole but hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal and professional fees to handle the fallout. The document did assert that Blieden answered questions during meetings mandated by the plea agreement.

Defendant Support

Blieden’s spiritual counsellor at Beit T’Shuvah, Community Rabbi Micha’el Akiba submitted a letter to the judge to note that he has been working with Blieden since January 2020. They worked on his gambling addiction, a disease of lying, distortion, and denial. Bliden is becoming aware of his issues and is on a road to recovery.

Janet Markowitz works as a Senior Alternative Sentencing Associate at Beit T’Shuvah and wrote that Blieden entered the Right Action Gambling Program there in January 2020. He “completed all levels of inpatient programming and moved to his own residence on March 4, 2021.

Blieden’s attorneys claimed that he made “serious mistakes … during a difficult time in his life.” They said that he “accepts full responsibility for it and has approached this matter with a deep sense of remorse and complete acknowledgment of his mistakes.” They claimed that he did not purchase things for himself but succumbed to an “extremely severe gambling addiction.” They pointed to the fact that Blieden is a first-time offender and that his “name and reputation have been irreparably harmed.”

The attorneys asked the court to impose a “sentence significantly below the guidelines range.”

Defendant Statement

The now-31-year-old Blieden submitted a 14-page letter to the court in his defense. He started with a history of his gambling, first taught to him by his father at the age of three. The story continues with Pokemon in middle school and gambling for allowance money with his brother at 13 years old.

He witnessed the poker boom on television. He made friends in the high-stakes poker community. You get the drift.

Blieden has been in the recovery process for gambling addiction. “I no longer am living a lie and bound by my addiction,” he wrote. And he concluded by saying that he understands that the judge will sentence him based on the crimes but wanted to provide background on his life.

Judge Undercuts DOJ Recommendation

Acting US Attorney Tracy Wilkison submitted a sentencing memo to the court several weeks ago. This noted that the government agreed with the Us Pretrial and Probation Officer’s recommendation of 102 months (8.5 years) in prison, three years of supervised release, and an order to pay $22,669,979.07 in restitution.

On June 9, Judge Birotte sentenced Blieden to 79 months (6.5 years) in federal prison. Blieden must also pay the full amount of $22.6M in restitution.

 

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