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Dugan avoids prison
A former Wisconsin judge, Hannah Dugan, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman on Wednesday to pay a $5,000 fine for obstructing the arrest of Eduardo Flores-Ruiz at the Milwaukee County courthouse, but she will not serve any prison time.
The case centered on an April 18, 2025 incident when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived to arrest Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican man who had re-entered the United States illegally after being deported in 2013, and Dugan directed the agents to the chief judge’s office before leading Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out through a private jury door.
Federal prosecutors said Dugan used the power and prestige of judicial office to obstruct federal agents carrying out their lawful duties, while Adelman said he took into account her decades of public service when deciding not to send her to prison.
Adelman said, “This is a few minutes of conduct for someone who has dedicated her life to public service,” and he added that it was “a marked deviation from an otherwise law-abiding life.”
The BBC reported that Dugan was arrested by FBI agents on Friday morning after Patel said she allowed Flores Ruiz to slip out of the courtroom, and Judge Stephen C. Dries ordered her release pending further legal proceedings.
Quotes and political fight
Dugan told the court she had not acted maliciously when she shielded Flores-Ruiz, saying, “I have been cast as both a scofflaw and a hero. I am neither,” and she argued her actions were meant to preserve “the decorum and safety of the courtroom”.
Adelman rejected prosecutors’ request for prison and said, “I think this is a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment,” as NBC News reported the sentence and the judge’s reasoning.
The case drew sharp political responses, with Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany urging authorities to “lock her up,” while Dugan’s lawyers accused the Trump administration of trying to “crush” her to ensure judicial compliance with its strategy of arresting immigrants inside courts.
In Spanish-language reporting, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that “La jueza Dugan desvió intencionadamente a los agentes” and that the obstruction increased the danger to people there, before the message was deleted minutes later.
NBC News also quoted a prosecutor acknowledging Dugan had “experienced collateral damage because of her conduct,” while saying “judges can’t choose to disregard the law.”
What happens next
After the conviction in December for obstructing a federal proceeding, Dugan faced sentencing guidelines calling for between 15 and 21 months in prison, but Adelman said prison was unnecessary because she had already lost her job, now has a felony conviction, and had received threats that forced her to move.
“A former Wisconsin judge who helped a man avoid immigration agents will not serve any prison time after a United States judge ordered her to pay a $5,000 fine on Wednesday”
NBC News reported that Dugan resigned from the Milwaukee County circuit judgeship she had held for nine years in January amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers who labeled her an activist judge, and her resignation letter said her prosecution threatened “the independence of our judiciary.”
Prosecutors argued the broader impact on the justice system required a serious sentence, and NBC News quoted Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling writing that “Judges are entrusted with tremendous discretion, but there is a line they cannot cross,” and that “The defendant crossed that line.”
The Hill said Dugan’s lawyers argued the prosecution was retaliatory and aimed to “crush” judges who do not comply with the administration’s immigration efforts or ICE operations, while the National Desk reported Adelman said her actions delayed the arrest by a matter of minutes.
NBC News added that Flores-Ruiz was deported in November, and it said Dugan’s attorneys planned to appeal the conviction after Adelman imposed the $5,000 fine.
