Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was charged April 25 with two felonies for her role in helping an illegal migrant charged with battery avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom last week.
Dugan, 65, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries during a brief hearing in a packed courtroom at the federal courthouse. Dugan, who was wearing a black dress with white flowers, made no public comments during the short hearing.
As it ended, her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, told the court: “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety.”
She has been charged with obstruction and concealing an individual.
The DoJ Reacts
U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi posted on X: “I can confirm that our @FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan – a county judge in Milwaukee – for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by @ICEgov.”
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan misdirected ICE agents to prevent them from detaining Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an undocumented migrant, after a court appearance on Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Earlier, FBI Director Kash Patel posted and later deleted a tweet about the arrest.
“Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,” Patel wrote. “We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.”
She was allegedly helping a criminal alien.
Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican immigrant, was facing three misdemeanor battery counts. He was in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 for a pre-trial conference.
According to federal court records, Flores-Ruiz, 30, was arrested April 18. Flores-Ruiz is listed as being in ICE custody at Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau
Dugan’s attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said in court Friday, “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly protests the arrest and believes it was not made in the interests of public safety.”
The judge was released her on her own recognizance.
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