Former Wisconsin judge avoids prison in ICE detention case | Court Affairs

Hannah Dugan’s sentence comes after she helped an immigrant to the US avoid ICE agents waiting to arrest her in 2025.

A former Wisconsin judge who helped a man stay out of prison will serve no prison time after a U.S. judge ordered him to pay $5,000 in fines Wednesday.

Hannah Dugan, 67, a former Milwaukee County District Court judge, told the court that she did not act violently while defending the man in her court in 2025, but was trying to maintain “courtroom etiquette and safety”.

“I’ve been treated like a cynic and a hero. I’m not anymore,” Dugan said. “I’m a public servant trying to do my job.”

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said she took into account Dugan’s decades of public service in deciding not to send him to prison.

“These are just a few moments of the character of a person who is dedicated to public service,” he said. “It’s a clear deviation from a law-abiding life.”

At the heart of a case it was what happened at the Milwaukee County Courthouse in April 2025, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived to arrest a Mexican national named Eduardo Flores-Ruiz.

Flores-Ruiz re-entered the United States illegally days after being deported in 2013 and was scheduled to appear in court before Dugan on misdemeanor battery charges for fighting with her roommate.

When deputies arrived at the courthouse, prosecutors said Dugan led them to the district attorney’s office, telling them their warrants were not sufficient grounds to arrest Flores-Ruiz.

After they left, Dugan led Flores-Ruiz and her attorney through the jury door. An agent saw him and caught him outside the courthouse after a short chase on foot. FBI agents grabbed Dugan after a week.

A federal judge decided Dugan in December he was acquitted of a lesser charge of concealing a person from arrest.

On Wednesday, Judge Adelman said Dugan “made the wrong decision at this time”, noting that he had already been fired, now has a bad sentence and received threats that forced him to move. He said his actions did not prevent ICE agents from making arrests.

Prosecutors said the sentences call for 15 to 21 months in prison, saying Dugan “used the power and prestige of the judicial office to prevent prosecutors from carrying out their legal duties to help someone escape arrest”. They said that a major decision is needed to show a serious concern for the justice system.

But Dugan’s lawyers he said it was an isolated incident. He said he had already paid a high price, saying he was “handcuffed at the time of his arrest, systematically publicly filmed, and deliberately humiliated from coast to coast by the leadership of the US Department of Justice and the FBI.”

One of the officials was the Director of the FBI, Kash Patel, who posted a photo of Dugan in handcuffs after being arrested with the words: “No one is above the law.” Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany, an ally of President Donald Trump and running for governor of Wisconsin, also urged the authorities to “lock him up”.

Dugan’s attorneys have accused the Trump administration of trying to “undermine” him to ensure that the courts follow his system of arresting inmates. Critics also say prosecutors are using the case to send a message to judges and other local officials who may oppose his immigration enforcement policies.