Milwaukee judge found guilty on obstruction charge after allegedly helping migrant evade arrest, AP reports

A jury convicted a Milwaukee judge on one count of felony obstruction Thursday, the Associated Press reported, after she was accused of helping a man who was in the U.S. illegally evade federal immigration authorities during a law enforcement operation at her courthouse.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was acquitted on a count of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor.

Dugan was arrested in April and pleaded not guilty to both charges. She attempted multiple times to dismiss the case against her on the grounds that she was acting within the scope of her official duties as a state court judge and therefore was entitled to judicial immunity, but those attempts were denied.

The trial lasted four days in Milwaukee federal court. 

Dugan's legal team argued that the "top levels of government" were involved in bringing charges against her, while federal prosecutors argued that Dugan intentionally interfered to block federal immigration officials from arresting Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the Associated Press reported. 

Dugan did not take the stand in her own defense, but a colleague of Dugan's who testified for the government said she was shocked by her behavior, according to the AP. 

Flores-Ruiz has since been deported.

According to a sworn statement by the FBI agent, Dugan helped direct Flores-Ruiz out of her courtroom through the jury door as federal immigration agents were waiting to arrest him in the hallway of Dugan's courthouse. 

"Judge Dugan then escorted Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of the courtroom through the 'jury door,' which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse," the agent wrote, adding that Dugan also instructed the man's attorney to also leave the courtroom through that door.

Agents later spotted Flores-Ruiz "looking around the hallway" in the courthouse and followed him out of the courthouse, where a foot chase ensued and he was arrested.

As the result of her arrest, Dugan was suspended from the bench in late April by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Carl Ashley said Dugan's docket would be taken over by a reserve judge "as needed."

Dugan's attorney, Steven Biskupic, told reporters he was disappointed with the verdict, the AP reports.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche hailed the conviction, arguing on X that Dugan "betrayed her oath and the people she served."