Judge upholds Wisconsin judge’s conviction for helping immigrant evade ICE

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A federal judge on Tuesday upheld the conviction of a former Wisconsin judge who helped an undocumented man evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman declined to reconsider former Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan’s conviction without rescheduling a sentencing date. Adelman previously postponed Dugan’s sentencing on June 3.

Dugan’s lawyers said in a statement to ABC News that Adelman’s decision was “wrong.” Her legal team cited United States v. Hernandez, in which an immigrant was detained by ICE, escaped and was found again before he was indicted on a count of obstructing a pending immigration hearing. Although he was found guilty, that conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court in April.

The lawyers added that Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the Mexican immigrant she led out a private courthouse door to evade ICE officers, was not facing a pending proceeding but a warrant for his arrest instead. Adelman, a Bill Clinton appointee and former Democratic state legislator, was unconvinced by this argument.

“At oral argument, defendant noted that ICE goes out every day to try to arrest people on the street,” Adelman wrote in his ruling. He echoed the defense’s argument, writing “Given the estimated 10 million undocumented persons in the United States, does that mean there are 10 million pending proceedings?”

The federal judge added that Dugan “insists that there needs to be some formality, i.e., a proceeding before an agency involving parties trying to come to a determination, an adjudication.”

“The problem for the defense is that this case did not involve some random encounter on the street,” he continued. “It was a targeted operation, conducted pursuant to agency procedures, including the issuance of an arrest warrant for a specific person, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz.”

Dugan was found guilty of obstruction charges in December. She faces up to five years in prison for obstruction, the more serious of the charges, though first-time offenders rarely receive the harshest punishment.

Flores-Ruiz was set to appear before Dugan on three misdemeanor counts of battery, with six agents and officers waiting outside. After Dugan led him out a private door, courtroom audio caught her telling her court reporter that she would “get the heat” for letting Flores-Ruiz go.

Flores-Ruiz has since been deported. His appearance before Dugan and her conviction have come amid the Trump administration’s massive crackdown on immigrants across the U.S.

Dugan resigned earlier this year following her conviction.

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Bill Clinton

Donald Trump

Hannah Dugan

ICE

Lynn Adelman

Lynn Adelman

Trump administration

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