Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan found guilty of obstructing ICE arrest of illegal immigrant in courthouse, faces up to 5 years in prison

A Milwaukee judge has been found guilty of obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during an incident when agents attempted to serve a warrant at a courthouse earlier this year, but she attempted to help the illegal immigrant flee from law enforcement.

Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty by a jury and is now facing up to five years in prison on a count of felony obstruction, per Fox News. She was arrested in April of this year after attempting to help Eduardo Flores-Ruiz avoid ICE agents who were tasked with serving him a warrant. Dugan was accused of attempting to help Flores-Ruiz, as well as his lawyer, flee her courtroom through a back door on April 18 when ICE agents arrived at the building to arrest him.

"While we are disappointed in today’s outcome, the failure of the prosecution to secure convictions on both counts demonstrates the opportunity we have to clear Judge Dugan’s name and show she did nothing wrong in this matter," Dugan's defense team said in a statement. "We have planned for this potential outcome and our defense of Judge Dugan is just beginning. This trial required considerable resources to prepare for and public support for Judge Dugan’s defense fund is critical as we prepare for the next phase of this defense."

The jury came to the guilty verdict after deliberating for six hours. She was acquitted on the misdemeanor charge of concealing an individual in order to avoid arrest.

Wisconsin Brad Schimel, the interim US Attorney in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, said of the verdict that Dugan "is certainly not evil nor is she a martyr for some greater cause."

"It was a criminal case, like many that make their way through this courthouse every day, and we all must accept the verdict peacefully," he added.
 

Federal prosecutors said that Dugan had ordered the ICE agents to speak with a judge in a nearby office, and then went back to her courtroom and brought Flores-Ruiz to a non-public jury door, which led to a non-public hallway with two doors. One of the doors, which Flores Ruiz did not take, would have led down a stairwell to the next floor. He and his public defender instead took the door that led into the public hallway where an agent was waiting, who followed the two. Outside the courthouse, prosecutors said that Flores-Ruiz attempted to flee, but was captured. In November, DHS announced the removal of Flores-Ruiz, a violent criminal illegal immigrant whose charges included battery, domestic abuse, and strangulation and suffocation.