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Attorney: ‘Dance Mom’ should be in prison

PITTSBURGH — A prosecutor on Friday urged a federal judge to sentence “Dance Moms” star Abby Lee Miller to prison instead of probation for bankruptcy fraud.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Melucci called witnesses to buttress his contention that the reality TV show star tried to avoid repaying hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt by hiding about $775,000 in income from a bankruptcy court.

Miller’s attorneys will call witnesses when the hearing continues Feb. 24, after which she’ll be sentenced. Miller and her attorneys said they won’t comment until then.

Melucci faces an uphill battle to convince U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti that Miller deserves two to 2 1/2 years in prison. That’s because the judge filed tentative findings on the eve of Friday’s hearing essentially agreeing with the defense argument that Miller deserves probation because no creditors lost money once the bankruptcy fraud was discovered.

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