Federal court upholds former Judge Hannah Dugan's conviction for helping immigrant evade ICE

Federal District Judge Lynn Adelman declined to overturn the conviction of former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was found guilty of helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Adelman rejected Dugan’s request to reconsider her conviction and did not set a new date for sentencing.

“During oral arguments, the defendant noted that ICE goes out every day to try to arrest people on the street,” Adelman wrote in his ruling. The judge echoed the defense’s argument, writing: “Given the estimated 10 million undocumented persons in the United States, does that mean there are 10 million pending proceedings?”

The judge further added that Dugan “insists that there needs to be some formality, i.e., a proceeding before an agency involving parties trying to reach a determination or adjudication.” Similarly, he noted that “the problem for the defense is that this case did not involve a random encounter on the street. It was a targeted operation, carried out in accordance with agency procedures, including the issuance of an arrest warrant for a specific individual, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz.”

A jury found Dugan guilty of obstruction-related charges in December. She faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the most serious charge, although defendants with no prior criminal record rarely receive the maximum sentence. The case arose from an incident in which Flores-Ruiz appeared in Dugan’s courtroom to answer three misdemeanor assault charges, while six police officers and federal agents waited outside. Prosecutors claimed that Dugan directed him toward a private exit to avoid the officers. Subsequently, court recordings captured the judge telling her court reporter that she “would take the heat” for allowing Flores-Ruiz to leave.

Since then, Flores-Ruiz has been deported from the United States. His case, along with Dugan’s conviction, unfolded amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration nationwide.