‘Dance Moms’ Star Abby Lee Miller Gains Another Extension On Her Fraud Case: What’s The Latest?


Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller seems to be doing everything she can to push out her court case, where she is facing multiple counts of fraud. Miller and her legal team had been due to appear in court Thursday, but she got a last-minute reprieve. What is the latest on this ongoing situation?

As was previously reported by the Inquisitr, Abby Lee Miller and her legal team had gotten a fourth extension a few weeks back, and a March 31 date was set for both sides to show up ready to move forward on dealing with these fraud charges. However, a fifth extension has just been granted to the Dance Moms star.

According to Deadline, a federal judge gave the Dance Moms star one more extension heading into the very day where she and her team were due in court. However, it sounds as if Judge Terrence McVerry is done giving the defendant any further grace in terms of moving the fraud case forward.

While Abby’s team may have gotten their extension, Deadline notes that Judge McVerry added a definitive note at the end of the order indicating that “THE COURT IS NOT INCLINED TO GRANT ANY FURTHER EXTENSIONS.” The Dance Moms star was indicted by a grand jury last October, and she currently faces 20 counts of fraud in the case.

The judge indicated that “sufficient cause exists for the requested extension to allow Defendant’s counsel and the Government to resolve any potential discovery disputes” and for the defense attorneys to work through possible discovery disputes. Now, the Dance Moms star and her lawyers have until May 31 to be prepared to move ahead.

This situation was spurred by the judge in her previous bankruptcy case from 2010 seeing her on television and questioning how some of her television show earnings were left out of her bankruptcy filing as assets. Abby entered a plea of not guilty in regards to the fraud allegations back in November and things have been essentially stalled since then due to the numerous extensions.

If the Dance Moms star is found guilty of all of the fraud counts against her, she could face five years in prison and $5 million in fines. The charges are a mix of bankruptcy fraud, false bankruptcy declarations and concealment of bankruptcy assets. The prosecution alleges that Miller hid more than $755,000 of the money she had earned via reality television, in part by having payments made to her mother instead of to her.

Viewers have seen a bit of this legal situation impact Abby throughout Season 6 of Dance Moms, which is airing right now on Lifetime. Miller has clearly been stressed by the fraud charges, and the moms have been buzzing about it quite a bit. However, Abby dances around the situation via her social media pages, instead posting about her international tour, the show, her studio’s upcoming “Bootie Camp,” and her dancers.

Will Abby Lee Miller manage to escape the 20 fraud charges she is facing when this does finally move forward? Dance Moms fans are certainly curious to see where this heads and will be watching for updates as that May 31 deadline hits. Though people will have to wait and see how things are handled in court, tidbits coming from Abby herself seem to indicate that she is doing what she can to place all of the blame elsewhere, with lawyers and accountants and such, rather than take responsibility for the issues at the center of the case. Will this approach work though?

Dance Moms will be heading into a hiatus soon, and it is known that Maddie Ziegler, her sister, Mackenzie, and their mom, Melissa Gisoni, will be bidding the show farewell at that point. Abby Lee Miller shares that Lifetime has ordered more episodes beyond that, but she is not yet sure how much she will be in the mix, or even if all of the other core dancers currently involved in Season 6 will be back. Fans will have to stay tuned for now to see what happens in the months ahead both with the show and with Miller’s fraud case.

[Image via Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

Share this article: ‘Dance Moms’ Star Abby Lee Miller Gains Another Extension On Her Fraud Case: What’s The Latest?
More from Inquisitr