Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller has been sentenced to a year behind bars.

The woman behind reality TV phenomenon, Dance Moms, has just been sentenced to a year behind bars.

Abby Lee Miller, founder of the Abby Lee Dance Company, whose students were at the centre of the popular show, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for bankruptcy fraud.

Miller was also found guilty of taking $120,000 worth of Australian currency into the United States without reporting it, after she toured Down Under with her dancers in August 2014.

The Dance Moms confront Abby Lee Miller over her leadership. Post continues after video.

The federal judge in Miller’s native Pittsburg has also ordered the 50-year-old to pay a fine of $40,000 and spend two years on probation following her release.

Before her sentencing for the charges – which she plead guilty to last year – Abby Lee read a lengthy statement to the court.

“I’m certainly ashamed to be meeting you for the first time in this manner,” she told the judge, according to Page Six.

"I wish you could take my class or come to one of my events and see how much I love this.

"I am very sorry for what I've done. My name has been dragged through the mud."

Prosecutors said a "channel-surfing bankruptcy judge" was first alerted to her income fraud after watching the show and concluding she would be making much more than the $8899 per month she was declaring.

Abby was known for her harsh critiques of her young dance students, but reignited the world's passion for dance. Throughout the show's seven seasons, Abby was responsible for turning her students into stars, including Maddie Ziegler, who became known for appearing in Australian singer Sia's creative music videos.

In March, she announced she was leaving the long-running show.