NEWSAbby Lee Miller Blames Prison as Reason Why She's 'in a Wheelchair': 'I Was Punished and Taken Off All My Medication'
Abby Lee Miller thinks she'd still be walking if she didn't spend eight months in prison.
Appearing as a guest on Bethenny Frankel's "Just B" podcast on Tuesday, May 7, the former Dance Moms teacher reflected on her time behind bars after she was convicted of bankruptcy fraud in 2016.
Abby Lee Miller blamed prison as the reason she's in a wheelchair.
The 58-year-old assured listeners of her awareness that she "did things wrong" and "made bad decisions," though she referred to the investigation into her finances as an "absolute witch hunt," while calling out the judge involved in her case's wife for being a "super fan" of the Lifetime reality show.
Miller claimed the judge's wife had watched Dance Moms religiously, meaning she was aware of the instructor's various advertisement deals and an upcoming spinoff series she had been working on at the time.
Abby Lee Miller spent eight months in prison after committing bankruptcy fraud.
The reality star seemed convinced the woman's prior knowledge influenced her husband's ruling by pushing the narrative Miller had "all this money" from being a television personality.
"But I filed [for bankruptcy] before the show ever started," Miller explained, noting: "Oh, that's why I'm in a wheelchair, because in prison I was punished and taken off all my medication, cold turkey."
Miller became confined to a wheelchair as a paraplegic after undergoing spinal surgery in April 2018.
She was later diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer Miller has since beat.
The dance teacher pled guilty to bankruptcy fraud in 2016.
Miller was first charged with attempting to disclose her $775,000 income from Dance Moms and Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, as well as other side projects from her bankruptcy proceedings in October 2015.
The choreographer allegedly hid her salary in secret bank accounts between 2012 and 2013 In June 2016, Miller pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud.
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Miller was additionally accused of smuggling a lump sum of $120,000 — a total of the money she made during an Australian tour — into the U.S. by dividing it into separate plastic bags and having friends transport the cash home via their luggage in August 2014.
By doing so, Miller violated an American law requiring individuals formally report if they are bringing more than $10,000 of a foreign currency back into the country.
Abby Lee Miller was confined to a wheelchair after becoming a paraplegic due to spinal surgery.
When settling her plea deal, Miller vowed to forfeit the $120,000 worth of profit.
Now, however, the famed dance coach put the blame on Maddie and Mackenzie Ziegler's mother, Melissa Gisoni, claiming: "That was Melissa. Melissa was all in charge of all the money. I taught the dance classes, they sold the merchandise."
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Recalling Melissa's alleged words at the time, Abby revealed, "'Oh, we're gonna bring this money home. And this is what we're gonna do. Everybody's gonna take 10,000, Abby. This is what we're gonna do.' Why, in God's name? I was paying $650,000."
Melissa was notably never charged in connection to the bankruptcy fraud case against Abby, nor has she ever publicly addressed her alleged involvement in the matter.
