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'Dance Moms' star pleads guilty

Abby Lee Miller
Bankruptcy fraud case

PITTSBURGH — “Dance Moms” star Abby Lee Miller pleaded guilty Monday to bankruptcy fraud and failing to report thousands of dollars in Australian currency she brought into the country.

Miller pleaded guilty to one count of concealing bankruptcy assets and one count of structuring international monetary transactions.

She was charged last fall with illegally trying to hide $775,000 worth of income from the Lifetime network reality show and spinoff projects during her Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Authorities later accused her of dividing more than $120,000 into plastic bags and having others in her group put the bags in their luggage in August 2014, violating a law requiring people to report bringing more than $10,000 worth of foreign currency into the country.

Miller, who remains free on $10,000 unsecured bond, issued a statement last week accepting responsibility for what she called “mistakes.”

The investigation began when a channel-surfing bankruptcy judge saw Miller on TV in December 2012 and figured she had to be making more than the $8,899 in monthly income she was claiming.

Authorities said she hid more than $228,000 in income from appearances on “Dance Moms” and a spinoff, “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition,” and nearly $550,000 more from personal appearances, dance sessions and merchandise.

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