by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News July 8, 2026
Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was spared from prison Wednesday after being convicted of felony obstruction for blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from arresting an illegal alien in her courtroom.
Judge Hannah Dugan / Video Image
Dugan was fined $5,000.
“I think this is a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment,” U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said.
Dugan, 67, resigned the Milwaukee County circuit judgeship she had held for nine years in January amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers.
Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling acknowledged that “she has experienced collateral damage because of her conduct,” but said “judges can’t choose to disregard the law.”
Prosecutors had argued in a sentencing memo that Dugan violated her oath as a judge and put both law enforcement and the public at risk.
“Judges are entrusted with tremendous discretion, but there is a line they cannot cross,” Frohling wrote. “The defendant crossed that line.”
Dugan’s attorneys argued she has been “punished enough,” and should not be sentenced to any jail time beyond the hours she spent in federal custody.
Federal sentencing guidelines called for 15 to 21 months behind bars for Dugan, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997.
On April 18, 2025, ICE agents went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.
Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the chief judge’s office, saying their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient to arrest Flores-Ruiz.
After the agents left, the judge led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. A week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan in the courthouse.
