This week, Abby Lee Miller of Dance Moms, faced a judge but not really on the charges expected (bankruptcy fraud).  It seems Abby Lee took it a step further and brought money back into this country from Australia and didn’t declare it.  In exchange for a plea deal, she agreed to enter a guilty admission on this charge(and one other)  if the others went away.

Is this fair?  Probably not but we’re not the Feds who made the decision.  The real problem is that Abby thought it was right.  Sure she wanted money.  We all do.  But there are ways to go about legally making a fortune and this is not one.

And the worse part of the story is that how she did this.  She took the money, put it in plastic bags, and scattered it through “employees” suitcases.  Now, some have said it was the dancers luggage but since we don’t know who she used as her “money mules” that is not for me to judge.  The fact that she wanted to spread the blame is enough to show the measures she will go to not to declare her earnings.  If the person with the money had been caught, it wouldn’t have been Abby facing the questioning.  It would have been the person involved.  Abby risked their reputation, livelihood and future instead of owning up to having the money herself.

People who really know me know that I am not a big Abby Lee Miller fan.  They know I think she plays favorites too much, ignores the dancers she dislikes, and hates for anyone to shine besides her favorites.  While she claims the producers introduced the pyramid of shame, I’ve heard too many tales which make he question her behavior. For her to use “employees” to carry her money, just is the icing on the top.

Will she learn anything from this?  Will she get jail time?  The answer to the second will be determined either on October 11th (or before depending on a slightly different case). The answer to the first is what will be her behavior going forward.  Many Dance Moms fans now are left in wonder how much of the reality show was real and how much scripted.  I think we’d find much more was scripted than we thought!