Former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan will be sentenced Wednesday in federal court for obstructing immigration enforcement by helping an illegal immigrant evade a federal deportation team in her courtroom.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman handed down the sentence following Dugan’s December 2025 felony conviction for obstruction of a federal proceeding. On April 18, 2025, she tipped off an illegal immigrant defendant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, to the presence of ICE agents waiting outside her courtroom, directing him to exit through a non-public route to evade arrest.
Dugan, 67, who resigned from the bench earlier this year after the jury’s verdict, faces up to five years in prison. Federal sentencing guidelines recommended 15 to 21 months, and prosecutors have urged a “serious sentence” involving prison time, arguing her conduct undermined legitimate immigration enforcement efforts during the second Trump administration.
The incident occurred amid heightened federal focus on removing criminal illegal immigrants. Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national with prior misdemeanor battery charges, was scheduled to appear before Dugan. Federal agents, operating under updated enforcement guidance allowing courthouse arrests with credible information, were present with an administrative warrant. According to court records, Dugan confronted the agents, questioned their authority, and then facilitated the defendant’s departure via the jury room exit. Agents quickly apprehended Flores-Ruiz outside the courthouse after a brief foot chase. He was later deported.
Dugan’s defense has sought leniency, including time served, because of her prior career in legal aid and public service. However, prosecutors emphasized the breach of trust by a sitting judge who swore an oath to uphold the law.
“This was a serious offense, and it warrants a correspondingly serious sentence,” they argued in filings.
Dugan is expected to appeal her conviction to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
