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The World Poker Tour champion will spend over six years behind bars for embezzling $ 22 million from his former employer.
Dennis Blieden who won 2018 The WPT LA Poker Classic Main Event for $1 ,,, was sentenced to 31 months in federal prison by a US District Court judge in Central California. He will also be forced to pay $ 22.7 million in damages.
Blieden, 31, pleaded guilty in November 2018 to one fraud and identity theft as part of the settlement. Initially, he dealt with 000 frauds, one case of identity theft and two cases of forfeiture. These charges could end up with 31 years in prison, but after the conclusion of the contract, he faced a maximum of 11 years behind bars.
Born in Cincinnati, he served as controller and vice president of accounting and finance at StyleHaul in Los Angeles, a digital marketing company that represented influencers on YouTube and Instagram. He controlled the company's finances and used $ 22 million to finance his high-stakes gambling.
During his tenure, Blieden faked bank transfers from Western Union to make it look like the money was being used to pay customers, but kept it to himself instead.
The DOJ said Blieden wrote $ 1.2 million in personal checks to other poker players, used $ 1.1 million to pay off credit cards, and spent another $ 8.4 million to buy cryptocurrency. The rest he used for personal expenses, including high-stakes poker. The cryptocurrency he purchased appreciated, but not enough to pay off his debts to the company.
An internal investigation by the company in March found Blieden's actions uncovered. He was indicted in Las Vegas the same year and extradited to Southern California. Blieden stole the money for several years before finally leaving the company in 2018.
Even though he earned a seven-digit score from his WPT winning 2018, he was already in debt from previous gambling ventures and wasn't even close to paying off the debts he owed the company. He embezzled $ 903 million in 903, according to an internal StyleHaul note.
The Feders said he lost $ 3 million in slot machines alone during one of his Las Vegas gambling games. It was his gambling problem coupled with his desire to become a successful poker pro that pushed him deeper into the hole, as he mentioned in a 15-page letter prior to the verdict, which Blieden wrote to referee Andre Birotte Jr.
"I was pursuing my debt, but I was also trying to keep up with a lifestyle that was a lie," wrote Blieden.
Then he said it was after his WPT victory, has been "externally validated in the poker community" and that he "did everything [he] to keep that reputation alive." In his letter, he also admitted to having a problem with methamphetamine.
Prosecutors recommended that Blieden be closed for 8.5 years, but Birotte cut it down by almost two years with a sentence.