Wisconsin judge found guilty of obstruction for helping immigrant evade federal agents

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee County jury found Wisconsin County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan guilty Thursday of obstruction for helping a Mexican immigrant evade federal authorities, a verdict that aligned with the Trump administration's immigration enforcement push. The jury also acquitted her on the related misdemeanor charge of concealing an individual to prevent arrest.

The obstruction conviction carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, while the jury's verdict on the concealment count spared Dugan from that misdemeanor. The panel reached its decision after six hours of deliberation.

The case stems from events at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18, when immigration officials learned that 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the United States illegally and was slated to appear before Dugan in a state battery case. Court filings and testimony indicate Dugan learned agents were in the corridor outside her courtroom and left the courtroom to confront them, telling them that their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient grounds to arrest Flores-Ruiz and directing them to go to the chief judge’s office. While the agents were away, she moved Flores-Ruiz’s case off the record, told his attorney that he could attend his next hearing via Zoom, and escorted Flores-Ruiz and the attorney out a private jury door. Agents located Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a brief foot chase. The Department of Homeland Security later said Flores-Ruiz had been deported in November.

Prosecutors contended that Dugan 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 the agents left the corridor, Dugan immediately moved Flores-Ruiz’s case to the top of her docket, told him he could appear for his next hearing via Zoom, and guided him out the back. The defense argued that she was attempting to follow courthouse protocols, which call for reporting immigration agents to supervisors and avoiding intentional obstruction.

The trial included audio recordings in which Dugan can be heard telling her court reporter that she’d take “the heat” for leading Flores-Ruiz out the back. Prosecutors pressed the jury to view the events as a deliberate obstruction of a federal arrest team, while defense lawyers stressed a lack of evidence showing intent to impede enforcement.

The case became a flashpoint in broader political debates over immigration policy. The Trump administration branded Dugan an activist judge who stood in the way of enforcement efforts, while Democrats suggested Republicans were using the case to attack judicial independence and to bolster pressure on courts opposing the administration’s policies.

Dugan’s verdict does not resolve the broader dispute over how courthouse procedures should interact with federal immigration enforcement, but it highlights the risk prosecutors or defense attorneys face when actions at state courthouses intersect with national policy. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled, and Dugan remains free on bond pending federal sentencing.