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.
Dugan told her court reporter she’d take “the heat” for leading Flores-Ruiz out the private door, according to audio cited by AP News.
ICE agents pursued and arrested Flores-Ruiz outside the courthouse after a foot chase. The Department of Homeland Security announced Nov. 14 that he had been deported. In its statement, the department said Flores-Ruiz had a “laundry list” of violent criminal charges, including strangulation and suffocation, battery, and domestic abuse.
Federal authorities arrested Dugan April 25 outside the courthouse, as CatholicVote reported in April. She was indicted in May on the two federal charges of obstruction and concealing an individual from arrest.
Prosecutors argued Dugan’s actions were intentional and unlawfully interfered with federal law enforcement.
“Common sense tells you that the defendant knew what she was doing was wrong, and she did it anyway,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Brown Watzka said during closing arguments, as reported by the Times.
Dugan’s defense argued she was following courthouse protocols amid confusion over ICE arrests in the building and did not act with corrupt intent.
“She never acted corruptly in doing her job as a judge in the middle of a stressful, new, and confusing situation,” a defense attorney, Jason Luczak, said, according to the Times.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche praised the Dec. 18 verdict, saying that Dugan “betrayed her oath and the people” by obstructing federal law enforcement.
“Nobody is above the law,” Blanche added. “This Department will not tolerate obstruction, will enforce federal immigration law, and will hold criminals to account – even those who wear robes.”
The post Wisconsin judge convicted of obstructing ICE after helping illegal immigrant evade arrest appeared first on CatholicVote org.