A federal jury convicted Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan on Dec. 18 of felony obstruction for helping an illegal immigrant temporarily evade arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents earlier this year.
After about six hours of deliberation, a jury drawn from 12 Wisconsin counties found Dugan, 66, guilty of obstructing federal law enforcement but acquitted her on a related misdemeanor charge of concealing a wanted person, The New York Times reported. The panel consisted of seven men and five women.
The case stems from an April 18 incident at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, where Dugan was presiding over misdemeanor cases. Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national who was deported in 2013 and later illegally re-entered the U.S., appeared before Dugan on three misdemeanor charges stemming from a March 12 altercation in which he allegedly assaulted a man and a woman, the New York Post reported.
According to an FBI affidavit, Dugan confronted ICE agents after learning they were in the building with a warrant for Flores-Ruiz. Prosecutors said she ordered the agents to report to the chief judge’s office, then returned to her courtroom.
Dugan then allegedly escorted Flores-Ruiz and his attorney through a non-public jury door into a staff hallway, allowing him to exit the building and briefly evade the ICE agents, as CatholicVote reported in April.
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