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Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan charged with 2 felonies in ICE case [1]
['Daniel Bice', 'John Diedrich']
Date: 2025-04-25
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan charged with 2 felonies in ICE case
Show Caption Hide Caption ICE arrests, Milwaukee leaders address arrests Elected officials, faith and community leaders hold press conference to bring attention to recent ICE arrests at Milwaukee County Courthouse.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was charged April 25 with two felonies for her role in helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom last week.
Dugan, 65, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries during a brief hearing in a packed courtroom at the federal courthouse. Dugan, who was wearing a black dress with white flowers, made no public comments during the brief hearing.
As it ended, her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, told the court: "Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety."
The federal criminal charges have not yet been made available.
But Brady McCarron, spokesman for U.S. Marshals Service in Washington, D.C., said Dugan is being charged with two federal felony counts: obstruction and concealing an individual. McCarron also confirmed Dugan was arrested at about 8 a.m. at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi posted on X: "I can confirm that our @FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan – a county judge in Milwaukee – for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by @ICEgov."
Earlier, FBI Director Kash Patel posted and later deleted a tweet about the arrest.
"Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week," Patel wrote. "We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest."
Multiple Milwaukee County judges confirmed that the arrest took place at the courthouse. Chief Judge Carl Ashley confirmed the incident in an email to courthouse officials.
Dugan accused of assisting undocumented defendant facing misdemeanor charges
Reached in her courtroom on April 24, Dugan declined to discuss the investigation. The veteran judge handles misdemeanor cases exclusively.
Officials have not yet identified the defendant whom she is accused of assisting, but it appears to be Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican immigrant facing three misdemeanor battery counts. He was in Dugan's courtroom on April 18 for a pre-trial conference.
According to federal court records, Flores-Ruiz, 30, was arrested April 18. Flores-Ruiz is listed as being in ICE custody at Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau, according to the federal online detainee locator system.
That arrest marked at least the third time in recent months that federal immigration agents have come to the courthouse with arrest warrants. In March and early April, two people were arrested by ICE officials in the hallways of the courthouse.
Records show that Dugan had 25 cases on the morning of April 18. Flores-Ruiz's case was set for 8:30 a.m. He does not appear to have any other state or federal criminal offenses or charges.
According to his criminal complaint, Flores-Ruiz is charged with three counts of misdemeanor battery. The charges include modifiers for domestic violence that could subject him to additional punishment if he is convicted.
The case stemmed from a fight on March 12 between two roommates at a home on the 3900 block of West Vliet Street. No one answered the door when the Journal Sentinel visited his residence April 23.
The criminal complaint said a fight occurred after Flores-Ruiz was accused of playing music too loudly in the home. The complaint alleges Flores-Ruiz punched another person 30 times, then struck a woman who tried to break up the melee.
Each of the three Class A misdemeanors has a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
Dugan was elected to Branch 31 of the Circuit Court in 2016 by knocking off an appointee of Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Her judicial term expires in 2028.
Attorney Gimbel calls Dugan arrest 'outrageous'
Franklyn Gimbel, a prominent Milwaukee defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, called Dugan’s arrest “outrageous.”
“First and foremost, I know -- as a former federal prosecutor and as a defense lawyer for decades – that a person who is a judge, who has a residence who has no problem being found, should not be arrested, if you will, like some common criminal,” Gimbel said. “And I'm shocked and surprised that the US Attorney's office or the FBI would not have invited her to show up and accept process if they're going to charge her with a crime.”
He said that typically someone who is “not on the run,” and facing this type of crime would be called and invited to come in to have their fingerprints taken or to schedule a court appearance.
He said law enforcement showing up to arrest her, “very, very outrageous, in my opinion and not professional.”
Mary Spicuzza of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
This is a breaking story and was updated with new information. More updates are coming.
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[1] Url:
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/breaking/2025/04/25/milwaukee-county-judge-hannah-dugan-arrested-by-feds-at-courthouse/83270885007/
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