Trial set to begin for Wisconsin judge accused of helping immigrant
evade federal authorities
[December 15, 2025]
By TODD RICHMOND
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Federal prosecutors were set to start presenting
their case Monday against a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a Mexican
immigrant evade federal authorities.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan's trial on obstruction and
concealment charges was scheduled to begin with opening statements from
prosecutors and defense attorneys followed by testimony from the
government's first witnesses.
The prosecution's case is expected to run through at least Thursday,
with roughly two dozen witnesses lined up to take the stand. Dugan's
attorneys have not said how much time they need and it's unknown when
jurors might begin deliberations. She faces up to six years in prison if
convicted on both counts.
The trial is the latest flashpoint in President Donald Trump's sweeping
immigration crackdown. The administration has branded her an activist
judge. Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a fierce Trump loyalist running
for Wisconsin governor next year, urged authorities to “lock her up” in
a tweet Tuesday.
Democrats say Trump is looking to make an example of Dugan to blunt
judicial opposition to the crackdown. Dugan told police she and her
family found threatening flyers at their homes this spring.
According to an FBI affidavit, immigration authorities learned this
spring that 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the United
States in 2013 and was charged in March with battery in Milwaukee. He
was scheduled to appear at a hearing in that case in front of Dugan on
April 18.
Agents traveled to the courthouse that day to arrest him, but Dugan's
courtroom deputy told them to wait outside the courtroom and arrest him
after the hearing, according to the affidavit. When Dugan learned that
agents were waiting in the hallway, she left the courtroom and angrily
told them to consult with the chief judge. As they walked away, she went
back inside the courtroom and led Flores-Ruiz out through a back jury
door that led to a public corridor, according to the affidavit.
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This courtroom sketch depicts Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah
Dugan in court as jury selection in her trial begins Thursday, Dec.
11, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wis. (Adele Tesnow via AP)
Agents followed Flores-Ruiz outside the building and arrested him
after a foot chase. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security
announced in November that he had been deported after he pleaded no
contest in the battery case and was sentenced to time served.
Prosecutors charged Dugan on April 24 with obstruction and
concealing an individual to prevent arrest. The state Supreme Court
suspended her from the Milwaukee County bench days later.
Dugan tried to persuade U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman to dismiss
the charges, arguing in filings that she's immune from prosecution
because she was acting in her official capacity as a judge. Adelman
refused, ruling in September that there's no firmly established
immunity for judges from criminal prosecution.
Dugan also argues that she was following courthouse protocols on
immigration arrests and wasn't trying to disrupt agents. According
to her filings, Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley sent out a
draft policy about a week before Flores-Ruiz was arrested that
barred immigration officers from executing administrative warrants
in nonpublic areas and required court personnel to refer any agents
to a supervisor.
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