In a turn of events that frankly seems more suited for a TLC reality star, Deadline reports that Abby Lee Miller, a.k.a. the lady with the big hair who made children cry on Lifetime’s Dance Moms, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison by a federal judge in Pittsburgh. Miller was indicted on nearly two dozen counts of fraud about a year and a half ago, in October 2015; she stepped down from Dance Moms in March of this year. The charges, which stem from a bankruptcy case Miller filed when Dance Moms was first on the air and included charges that she had used family members and members of the Dance Moms team to hide more than $755,000 in income from the courts, carried a maximum penalty of up to $5 million in fines and five years in jail.
Miller reportedly testified in her own defense at closing arguments for the case, apologizing for her behavior and tearfully describing how hard it was to be a reality TV star as two of the moms from the show, Christi Lukasiak and Kelly Hyland—the latter of whom sued Miller for assault, defamation, and destruction of property in 2014—sat behind her.