A Wisconsin judge has been found guilty of obstruction for helping a Mexican immigrant evade ICE in a victory for Donald Trump‘s crackdown on illegal migration.
Federal prosecutors charged Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan with obstruction, a felony, and concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor, in April.
The indictment accused Dugan of ‘knowingly’ concealing an undocumented migrant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, so he wouldn’t be discovered and arrested by officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Dugan allegedly helped Flores-Ruiz evade arrest when he appeared in her courtroom on April 18 for a pretrial hearing in a domestic abuse case.
The jury acquitted her on the concealment count, but she still faces up to five years in prison on the obstruction count, a sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
The jury returned the verdicts after deliberating for six hours.
The Trump administration branded Dugan an activist judge and Democrats countered that the White House was trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to the operation.
Dugan and her attorneys left the courtroom, ducked into a side conference room and closed the door without speaking to reporters.
Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan (pictured center) has been found guilty of obstruction for helping a Mexican immigrant evade ICE in a victory for Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal migration
The indictment accused Dugan of ‘knowingly’ concealing an undocumented migrant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz (pictured), so he wouldn’t be discovered and arrested by officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Steve Biskupic, her lead attorney, later told reporters that he was disappointed with the ruling and didn’t understand how the jury could have reached a split verdict since the elements of both charges were virtually the same.
US Attorney Brad Schimel denied the case was political and urged people to accept the verdict peacefully.
He said courthouse arrests are safer because people are screened for weapons and it isn´t unfair for law enforcement to arrest wanted people in courthouses.
‘Some have sought to make this about a larger political battle,’ Schimel said. ‘While this case is serious for all involved, it is ultimately about a single day, a single bad day, in a public courthouse. The defendant is certainly not evil. Nor is she a martyr for some greater cause.’
US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche praised the verdict on X, saying nobody is above the law, even judges.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Dugan in May, claiming it was in the public interest to relieve her of her duties as she faces the federal charges.
Flores-Ruiz was accused of punching someone 30 times in the face after they complained he was playing loud music.
He was charged with three counts of misdemeanor battery for allegedly assaulting three people on March 12.
The long-time judge was indicted on May 13 on charges of obstructing a federal agency and aiding 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz’s escape. Pictured: Surveillance footage shows Dugan outside her courtroom on April 18, confronting federal agents who were there to arrest Flores-Ruiz
The Trump administration branded Dugan an activist judge and Democratscountered that the White House was trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to the operation
Flores-Ruiz is a migrant from Mexico. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security said he was deported in 2013 and never sought legal permission to return.
ICE agents in Milwaukee were then alerted to Flores-Ruiz’s hearing on April 18, and agents showed up at the courthouse to arrest him.
Six ICE agents described as wearing ‘generally plain clothes’ arrived at the courthouse and presented their identifications to a security guard, according to a criminal complaint.
Dugan was then allegedly notified of the agents and ‘became visibly angry,’ calling their presence ‘absurd,’ and left the bench.
‘Witnesses uniformly reported that Judge Dugan was visibly upset and had a confrontational, angry demeanor,’ the criminal complaint stated.
Dugan then allegedly asked the officers to leave and informed them they needed a judicial warrant to arrest Flores-Ruiz.
The Wisconsin judge was then accused of directing the agents to the chief judge and helped Flores-Ruiz and his attorney leave through a ‘jury door.’
The affidavit stated Dugan told the migrant and his attorney, ‘wait come with me’ before they left the courthouse, directing them to a back jury door.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan leaves court in May after pleading not guilty to obstruction and concealment charges
This courtroom sketch depicts Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan in court this week
The courtroom deputy told investigators that the door is only used for deputies, juries, court staff, and defendants already in custody.
They added that defense attorneys and defendants who weren’t in custody ‘never’ used that door.
Dugan allegedly adjourned the case without the state attorney’s knowledge, according to the criminal complaint.
Flores-Ruiz and his attorney allegedly took an elevator and left the courthouse before ICE agents followed them.
ICE agents saw him outside the courthouse, and he ran away when they approached him.
Flores-Ruiz was apprehended by ICE agents, and Dugan was arrested and charged with obstructing a proceeding of a federal agency and concealing an individual to prevent arrest.
Prosecutors worked during Dugan´s trial to show that she directed agents to the chief judge´s office to create an opening for Flores-Ruiz to escape.
An FBI agent who led the investigation testified that after agents left the corridor, she immediately moved Flores-Ruiz´s case to the top of her docket, told him that he could appear for his next hearing via Zoom and led him out the private door.
Prosecutors also played audio recordings from her courtroom in which she can be heard telling her court reporter that she´d take ‘the heat’ for leading Flores-Ruiz out the back.
Her attorneys countered that she was trying to follow courthouse protocols that called for court employees to report any immigration agents to their supervisors and she didn´t intentionally try to obstruct the arrest team.
The US Department of Homeland Security announced in November he had been deported.