Former Milwaukee judge fined, spared prison in immigration arrest case

A former Milwaukee County judge will avoid prison after being convicted in a case tied to an immigration arrest at her courthouse. US District Judge Lynn Adelman ordered Hannah Dugan, 67, to pay a $5,000 fine on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera, The Associated Press and Reuters.

The sentence ends a closely watched case over how local courts respond when federal immigration agents seek to make arrests inside courthouses. Federal prosecutors had sought prison time, while Dugan’s lawyers said the incident was brief, isolated and had already cost her heavily.

Dugan, a former Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, told the court she had not acted with malice when she helped a man avoid immigration agents in 2025, according to Al Jazeera, AP and Reuters. She said she was trying to preserve courtroom safety and order.

“I have been cast as both a scofflaw and a hero. I am neither,” Dugan said in court. “I am a public servant who’s just trying to do my job.”

Courthouse arrest attempt led to federal case

The case grew out of an April 2025 episode at Milwaukee County Court, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican man who was appearing before Dugan on misdemeanor battery charges tied to a fight with his roommate, according to Al Jazeera, AP and Reuters.

Flores-Ruiz had unlawfully returned to the United States days after being deported in 2013, the news organizations reported. Prosecutors said that when ICE agents arrived, Dugan sent them to the chief judge’s office and told them their administrative warrant did not provide enough basis to arrest Flores-Ruiz.

After the agents left, prosecutors said, Dugan guided Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out through a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz and arrested him outside the courthouse after a short foot chase, according to Al Jazeera, AP and Reuters. FBI agents arrested Dugan a week later.

A federal jury convicted Dugan in December of obstructing a federal proceeding. Jurors acquitted her of a separate lesser charge of concealing a person from arrest, according to Al Jazeera, AP and Reuters.

Judge cites public service and consequences

Adelman said at sentencing that Dugan had made a poor decision in the moment, according to Al Jazeera, AP and Reuters. He also said her conduct did not stop agents from arresting Flores-Ruiz.

The judge said he weighed Dugan’s long record of public service in deciding against prison. He also noted that she had lost her job, now has a felony conviction and had received threats that forced her to move, the news organizations reported.

Prosecutors had argued that federal guidelines called for a prison term of 15 to 21 months. They said Dugan used the authority and status of her judicial office to block federal agents from carrying out lawful duties and that a serious sentence was needed because of the case’s effect on the justice system.

Dugan’s defense lawyers said she had already paid a high price. In a sentencing memo cited by Al Jazeera, AP and Reuters, they said she was arrested in handcuffs and shackles, publicly photographed and intentionally humiliated by leaders of the US Department of Justice and FBI.

FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo of Dugan in handcuffs after her arrest with the caption, “No one is above the law,” according to Al Jazeera, AP and Reuters. Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany, a Trump ally running for Wisconsin governor, also called for authorities to “lock her up.”

Dugan’s lawyers accused the Trump administration of trying to pressure judges into cooperating with its practice of arresting immigrants in courthouses. Critics of the prosecution have also said the case was intended to warn judges and local officials who might resist federal immigration enforcement policies, according to Al Jazeera, AP and Reuters.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.