Why Did Abby Lee Miller Go To Prison? | The US Sun

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OVER THE years, Abby Lee Miller has introduced the world to some of today’s biggest stars thanks to the success of the Lifetime show Dance Moms.

Despite being blessed with fame and fortune, she ultimately found herself behind bars for eight months back in 2017.

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Why did Abby Lee Miller go to prison?

Dance Moms premiered in 2011 and was on air for eight seasons.

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During that time, Abby Lee Miller found herself in the middle of financial struggles.

In October 2015, she was indicted by a Pittsburgh grand jury on 20 counts of fraud and accused of hiding over $755,000 in earnings from the popular reality series, according to Deadline.

At the time, Miller had pleaded not guilty but changed her plea in June 2016.

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In May 2017, she was sentenced to 366 days in prison.

“You weren’t truthful, even when you knew you were supposed to tell everything, you still weren’t truthful,” Chief Judge Joy Flowers Conti told Miller at the time.

“Somehow you got caught up in the world of fame and you lost your moral compass,” she added.

In addition to the prison sentence, she was required to pay a $40,000 fine and a $120,000 judgment.

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At the time, Miller’s defense team said they respected the judge’s decision, with Miller adding that she felt “relieved” and “peaceful.”

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When was Abby Lee Miller released from prison?

In 2018, Miller was released from prison due to her ongoing health issues but has since returned to her previous life.

She has also been more vocal about her previous students, claiming they abandoned her when she went to prison.

In April 2022, Miller sat down with ET, where she called out the families of her students who cut off all contact.

“Shame on you. Shame on you after what I did for you, for your children — helped make you a lot of money,” she said of the Dance Moms families.

“You couldn’t come to visit me for eight and a half months? You couldn’t send a card, a letter?”

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She continued: “I was getting mail from children in other countries and somehow, twelve-and thirteen-year-old little girls were finding the address.

“They were getting their cards and letters to me, and people here, that I taught their children before the television show — they were very happy customers before Dance Moms and then during it, they were stars, they were making money, they were on top of the world — and you’re just going to dump me?”

“It’s not hurtful anymore, because you realize real quick who your friends are,” Miller added.

While Miller might be calling out her former students, there is one star that continues to shine and make Miller proud.

That star would be JoJo Siwa, who Miller called a “shining example” to the LGBTQ+ community.

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“I always knew the world would be a more colorful, positive, sparkly place with a kind, loving, dazzling triple threat like you in it – a shining example for the kids out there to live their BEST lives each and every day,” Miller said about Siwa in an Instagram post.

“You put your heart on the platter! (If you know you know) Love you kiddo!!! Keep making me proud.”

Where is Abby Lee Miller now?

In 2018, Miller began a public battle with Burkitt’s Lymphoma, a rare type of cancer.

As a result, she lost her mobility and had to be confined to a wheelchair.

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Since then, Miller has found a new perspective on life, telling ET it has changed “immensely.”

“I say please and thank you at least 100 times a day and to strangers. When you are in a store, and I get caught in between the clothing racks, getting poked in the eye by the edges of hangers, just dropping things on the floor, dropping my car keys in the parking lot. All of those things become a huge problem. They are problematic,” she said.

“It is an effort for me to bend over and try to pick something up off the floor. I can do it, but I have to lower my chair and lower my feet down and I have to lift up the arm rest. I have to bend over and try to grab it.”

“I have such a respect for people that are handicap. I had no idea — none before I was in the chair, and you see me out — we bumped into each other at a concert, and I like I said, I go to dinner, I shop, I do this, I do that,” she added.

“[I’m] thankful and grateful for the people in my life — the people that stood by me through thick and thin, through all of this,” Miller continued.

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“I love them dearly, and for the strangers, there is an old Irish proverb when you need a favor ask a stranger. People have been wonderful to me.”

Later in her interview with ET, Miller revealed that she now also teaches dance lessons over Zoom to children globally.

Miller said, “I teach on Zoom all over the world, and I can critique and pick out everything.”

“Last night, at 1:00 a.m, well not last night, but this morning, I was teaching a child in Australia, fine-tuning every step that she did.”

Ahead of the upcoming premiere of Dance Moms: The Reunion, it was revealed that Miller will not be part of the new series.

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In March 2024, a source told People that a part of the cast requested Miller be excluded from the show.

“At this point everyone has gone through different eras, had time to reflect and there’s been a lot that Abby put them through emotionally and physically and they just didn’t want to relive that,” the source says.

During a red carpet interview with Access Hollywood, JoJo Siwa said she thought it was “stupid” to exclude Miller.

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She said, “They didn’t ask her to be a part of the reunion, which honestly for me, I thought was stupid.

“I think you can’t have a Dance Moms reunion without Abby.” she continued.

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