A federal judge in Wisconsin has affirmed the conviction of a former state judge who helped an undocumented immigrant slip past federal immigration agents, setting the stage for a sentencing that could carry up to five years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, a Clinton appointee and former Democratic state lawmaker, on Tuesday denied a motion to reconsider the obstruction conviction of Hannah Dugan, formerly a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge. Adelman did not set a new sentencing date, having postponed the original June 3 hearing.
Dugan’s legal team swiftly criticized the ruling, calling it “wrong” in a statement to ABC News. They pointed to a recent federal appeals court decision in United States v. Hernandez, which overturned a similar obstruction conviction because the immigrant in that case was not subject to a pending proceeding—only an arrest warrant—at the time of his escape.
In Dugan’s case, the defense argued that Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the Mexican national she helped evade ICE, was likewise facing only an arrest warrant, not an active immigration hearing. But Adelman rejected that parallel, writing that the situation differed sharply from a random street encounter.
“The problem for the defense is that this case did not involve some random encounter on the street,” Adelman wrote. “It was a targeted operation, conducted pursuant to agency procedures, including the issuance of an arrest warrant for a specific person, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz.”
According to court records, Flores-Ruiz appeared before Dugan on three misdemeanor battery charges. Outside the courtroom, six ICE agents and officers were waiting to take him into custody. Instead, Dugan escorted him through a private exit. Courtroom audio captured her telling her court reporter that she would “get the heat” for letting him go.
The incident unfolded against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration enforcement crackdown. Flores-Ruiz has since been deported.
Dugan, who resigned from the bench earlier this year, was convicted in December on one count of obstruction. First-time offenders rarely receive the maximum penalty, but the conviction carries a potential five-year prison term.
Adelman, in his ruling, acknowledged the defense’s broader argument that ICE’s daily enforcement efforts could be construed as creating “pending proceedings” for millions of undocumented people. “At oral argument, defendant noted that ICE goes out every day to try to arrest people on the street,” he wrote. “Given the estimated 10 million undocumented persons in the United States, does that mean there are 10 million pending proceedings?”
But he ultimately sided with prosecutors, concluding that the operation targeting Flores-Ruiz was a formal, warrant-backed enforcement action—not an informal street stop.
The case has drawn attention from both immigration advocates and critics of judicial overreach. Meanwhile, related legal battles continue elsewhere: a federal judge recently ordered the Trump administration to restore removed National Park displays, and a judge denied a bid to delay removing Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center.
