Abby Lee Miller, the former host and head coach of “Dance Moms,” would definitely be gone from the klieg lights. On Tuesday, she was sentenced to one-year and one-day jail term on 20 counts of fraud.
Before the sentencing, the former reality dance show host on Lifetime resigned in late March from the show which made her and the young female dancers popular. She cited ill treatment from the producers of "Dance Moms" as the reason behind her quitting the show she built.
Abby will be back
Abby told ET Online that during the time she would serve her sentence, she would use it to pitch a new show.
The 50-year-old said there would be dancing in the new show.
The former head coach told she is aware of some physical limitations she would face once she is in Prison. One is dietary limits. But she said it would be okay, although she is uncertain how working with other women every day would turn out because prison life is the world she knows nothing about.
Battles with moms of dancers
However, Abby knows how difficult it is to work with other females, both the young divas who trained under her for years and their mothers, many of whom are stage moms. Part of the “appeal” of “Dance Moms” is her shouting matches with the mothers who perceive Abby as having favorites among her young dance divas.
They include Christi Lukasiak and Kelly Hyland, mothers of dancers who reportedly attended the sentencing of the head coach.
A day before her sentencing, Judge Joy Flower Conti said the more appropriate sentence for Abby should be between 10 and 16 months, plus a fine from $5,000 to $55,000 for Abby’s 20 fraud charges when she hid over $775,000 income from hosting “Dance Moms,” New York Daily News reported.
Two more years of probation
The judge wanted another 18 to 24 months of prison time and fines ranging from $7,500 to $75,000 for currency reporting charges. Conti ordered Abby to serve two more years in probation after she has served her one year, one day sentence for fraud. A probation officer would approve the place where the celebrity would live during the probation period.
It is not known yet what prison facility Abby would be sent to, but her lawyer requested it would be in California since she is a resident of Los Angeles and not in Pennsylvania where she was sentenced. Before she was sentenced, Abby said she was ashamed of what she did and took responsibility for it by pleading guilty to two charges.
Besides losing a show she nurtures, the dance coach revealed that her Abby Dance Company no longer exists in the building she tries to save. She is aware of the uncertain future ahead.
