Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan indicted by grand jury on federal charges
A federal grand jury has indicted a Wisconsin judge who was arrested and charged last month with allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan has been indicted on charges alleging she concealed a person from arrest and obstructed a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States -- the same charges she was initially charged with by complaint.
She is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on Thursday.
Following the indictment on Tuesday, her legal team said in a statement, "As she said after her unnecessary arrest, Judge Dugan asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court."
The judge was arrested on April 25. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement at the time that two FBI agents arrested Dugan "for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid arrest" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Dugan appeared in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin following her arrest and was released on her own recognizance. If convicted, she could face up to six years in prison.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Dugan in the wake of her arrest, stating in an order that it found it was "in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties."
Her case stems from the arrest of an undocumented immigrant -- Eduardo Flores-Ruiz -- on April 18, county court records show. Flores-Ruiz was set to appear in court that day before Dugan for a pretrial conference in an ongoing case where he has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery/domestic abuse.
Upon learning ICE officers were present in court to arrest Flores-Ruiz, Dugan allegedly became "visibly angry" and confronted one of the officers, according to the federal complaint that was unsealed following her arrest.
Multiple witnesses cited in the complaint later allegedly said Dugan returned to her courtroom after directing members of the arrest team to the office of the court's chief judge, according to the complaint.
A DEA agent saw Flores-Ruiz and his attorney in the public hallway of the courthouse and he appeared to be making efforts to evade arrest, the complaint stated. After he was encountered by FBI and DEA agents outside the building, Flores-Ruiz "turned around and sprinted down the street" before he was ultimately apprehended, according to the complaint.
In a post on social media, FBI Director Kash Patel claimed Dugan "intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse."
