{"id":3293,"date":"2026-07-09T08:04:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T08:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3293"},"modified":"2026-07-09T08:04:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T08:04:01","slug":"former-wisconsin-judge-spared-prison-for-obstructing-ice-arrest-of-mexican-immigrant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3293","title":{"rendered":"Former Wisconsin judge spared prison for obstructing ICE arrest of Mexican immigrant"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Former Wisconsin\u00a0Judge Hannah Dugan\u00a0was spared from prison Wednesday for ushering a Mexican defendant through her jury room door as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sought to arrest him in a courthouse hallway.<\/p>\n

Read more Arizona AG demands action on broken A\/C from Glendale apartments<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman fined her $5,000, describing the case as a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment.<\/p>\n

Dugan, 67, was convicted of felony obstruction in December. Her lawyers argued during her trial that President Donald Trump\u2019s administration sought to \u201ccrush\u201d Dugan in an effort to ensure judicial compliance with the ICE strategy of targeting immigrants\u00a0as they showed up for court hearings.<\/p>\n

Dugan\u00a0resigned\u00a0the 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. In her resignation letter, she said her prosecution threatened \u201cthe independence of our judiciary.\u201d Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a fierce Trump loyalist\u00a0running for Wisconsin governor, had urged authorities to \u201clock her up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin emphasized that the jury\u2019s verdict last December and Adelman\u2019s sentence reflect Dugan\u2019s abuse of her position to obstruct law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaw enforcement officers need to be able to carry out their lawful responsibilities in the manner that is safest for them, the public and the individual they are attempting to detain,\u201d said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel. \u201cDugan\u2019s reckless and illegal actions interfered with that goal and created unnecessary risks for all involved. For that there needed to be serious consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dugan says she was just trying to do her job<\/h3>\n

Dugan addressed the court, saying she tried to do her best as a judge, and that her actions that day in April 2025 were not done maliciously but rather to maintain the \u201cdecorum and safety of the courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been cast as both a scofflaw and a hero. I am neither,\u201d Dugan said, adding that she was trying to do her job. She said she has had to retire from public life because of threats against her and her family.<\/p>\n

Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling acknowledged that Dugan has experienced collateral consequences but said \u201cjudges can\u2019t choose to disregard the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge said Dugan lost her job, now has a felony conviction and experienced threats that forced her to move and stop attending community events. He also noted that Dugan\u2019s actions didn\u2019t stop the ICE agents from arresting the defendant outside the courthouse.<\/p>\n

Read more Police look for driver who hit, killed pedestrian in north Phoenix<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis conviction affirms that no one is above the law,\u201d Adelman said.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors had pushed for a \u2018serious sentence\u2019<\/h3>\n

Prosecutors had argued in a sentencing memo that Dugan violated her oath as a judge and put both law enforcement and the public at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cJudges are entrusted with tremendous discretion, but there is a line they cannot cross,\u201d Frohling wrote. \u201cThe defendant crossed that line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dugan\u2019s attorneys argued she has been \u201cpunished enough,\u201d and should not be sentenced to any jail time beyond the hours she spent in federal custody.<\/p>\n

Federal sentencing guidelines called for 15 to 21 months behind bars, but the judge, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997, wasn\u2019t bound by them. Prosecutors did not recommend a sentence, but Frohling wrote that \u201cthis was a serious offense, and it warrants a correspondingly serious sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorney Jason Luczak said after the sentencing that they would still appeal Dugan\u2019s felony obstruction conviction. Jurors acquitted her at trial of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

What happened in the courthouse that day<\/h3>\n

On April 18, 2025, immigration officers went to\u00a0the Milwaukee County courthouse\u00a0after learning Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.<\/p>\n

Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the chief judge\u2019s office, saying their administrative warrant wasn\u2019t sufficient to arrest Flores-Ruiz. Her attorneys said during her trial that she was following protocols that called for court employees to report any immigration agents to their supervisors.<\/p>\n

After the agents left, she led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. A week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan in the courthouse, leading her outside in handcuffs.<\/p>\n

Flores-Ruiz was\u00a0deported\u00a0in November.<\/p>\n

\u2014-<\/p>\n

Associated Press contributors include Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Read more Irvington, I-19 construction to begin in July<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan has been spared from prison for ushering a Mexican defendant out of her courtroom as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents waited in the hallway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Wisconsin judge spared prison for obstructing ICE arrest of Mexican immigrant - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3293\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Wisconsin judge spared prison for obstructing ICE arrest of Mexican immigrant - 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