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Hannah Dugan: Judge arrested after allegedly obstructing immigration agents Hannah Dugan: Judge arrested after allegedly obstructing immigration agents
(about 2 hours later)
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah DuganMilwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan
A judge in Wisconsin has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation after allegedly trying to help an undocumented immigrant who appeared in her court avoid arrest. Federal agents arrested a Wisconsin judge and charged her with obstruction for allegedly trying to help an undocumented immigrant evade arrest.
FBI agents took Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan into custody on Friday morning, officials said. Announcing her arrest, FBI director Kash Patel accused Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan of "intentionally misdirecting" immigration agents away from a Mexican man they were trying to arrest last week.
In a post on X, which was deleted minutes later, FBI Director Kash Patel alleged that Dugan allowed Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national facing three misdemeanour battery counts stemming from a fight, to escape from her courtroom. "Thankfully our agents chased down the perp on foot and he's been in custody since, but the Judge's obstruction created increased danger to the public," Patel wrote on X.
Dugan was charged with obstruction and concealing an individual to avoid arrest, and faces a maximum of six years in prison if convicted on both charges. During a preliminary court hearing on Friday, Dugan's lawyer said she "wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety".
During a hearing on Friday, a lawyer for Dugan said she "wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest". "It was not made in the interest of public safety." The judge has been charged with obstruction and concealing an individual to avoid arrest, and faces a maximum of six years in prison if convicted on both charges.
She was released on her own recognisance pending a hearing on 15 May. Dugan was released on her own recognisance pending a hearing on 15 May.
An immigration judge had issued a warrant for Flores-Ruiz's arrest on 17 April, according to court documents filed in the case by the FBI. The charges stem from events that played out in Dugan's courtroom last week.
The following day, Flores-Ruiz appeared in the Milwaukee court for a scheduled hearing, and officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and the FBI went to the courthouse to make the arrest. On 17 April, an immigration judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national facing three misdemeanour battery counts stemming from a domestic fight, according to court documents filed in the case by the FBI.
Dugan became agitated when she learned that immigration agents were in the courthouse and directed several of them to the office of the county's chief justice, an FBI special agent wrote in the court document. The following day, Flores-Ruiz appeared in the Milwaukee court for a scheduled hearing, and six officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency arrived at the courthouse to make the arrest.
While they were there, the document says, the judge ushered Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer to a side door meant for jury members leading out of the courtroom. The agents identified themselves to court officials and waited outside Dugan's courtroom, but according to the FBI affidavit, the judge became "visibly angry, commented that the situation was 'absurd,' left the bench, and entered chambers" when she learned of their presence.
Flores-Ruiz, who authorities say had previously been deported from the US in 2013, managed to leave the courthouse but was arrested just minutes later after a short foot chase. In the hallway outside the court, Dugan and the unnamed agents then argued over the type of arrest warrant that had been issued, before the judge instructed them to report to the office of the county's chief judge.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X that Dugan was detained "for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest... No one is above the law". While several agents were in the office, affidavit says, the judge ushered Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer to a side door meant for jury members leading out of the courtroom.
But two agents remained near the courtroom and spotted Flores-Ruiz attempting to escape, the affidavit says.
Flores-Ruiz, who authorities say had previously been deported from the US in 2013, managed to exit the courthouse but was arrested just minutes later after a short foot chase.
Dugan's arrest came one day after a former judge in New Mexico was taken into custody accused of harbouring an alleged Venezuelan gang member in his home.
"I think some of these judges think they are beyond and above the law and they are not," Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News in an interview on Friday.
"And if you are destroying evidence, if you are obstructing justice, when you have victims sitting in a courtroom of domestic violence, and you're escorting a criminal defendant out a back door, it will not be tolerated."
Dugan was first elected as a judge in 2016, and was re-elected to a second six-year term in 2022.Dugan was first elected as a judge in 2016, and was re-elected to a second six-year term in 2022.
Judicial elections in Wisconsin are non-partisan, however Dugan was endorsed by Milwaukee's Democratic mayor.Judicial elections in Wisconsin are non-partisan, however Dugan was endorsed by Milwaukee's Democratic mayor.
The obstruction charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the concealment charges can be punished by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.The obstruction charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the concealment charges can be punished by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
In 2019, during the first Trump administration, a judge in Massachusetts was arrested after she allowed an undocumented immigrant defendant to retrieve property from a lockup in the courtroom. The immigrant then left the courtroom.
Judge Shelley M Richmond Joseph was charged with obstruction, but the charges were dropped in 2022, although she still faces an ongoing ethics complaint stemming from the incident.