The FBI arrested a Wisconsin judge on obstruction charges after she allegedly helped an illegal migrant avoid arrest, FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday.
The bureau had been investigating Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan for trying to help an illegal alien avoid arrest when that person was scheduled to appear in her courtroom last week, sources told the Journal Sentinel.
“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 Friday in a since-deleted post on X. “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.
“Thankfully our agents chased down the perp on foot and he’s been in custody since, but the Judge’s obstruction created increased danger to the public. We will have more to share soon. Excellent work @FBIMilwaukee.”
Dugan appeared briefly in federal court in Milwaukee on Friday before being released from custody. Her next court appearance is May 15.
“Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing.
Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley emailed judges to say Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 with an arrest warrant, the Journal Sentinel reported.
Sources told the newspaper that Dugan directed the ICE agents to Ashley’s office, and then allowed the defendant to leave the courtroom through a side door, down a private hallway and into a public area.
The incident was at least the third time in recent months federal immigration agents came to the Milwaukee courthouse to make arrests. Two people were arrested by ICE officials in the hallways of the courthouse, one each in March and early April, the Journal Sentinel reported.
On Thursday, a recently resigned New Mexico judge and his wife were arrested in a federal raid on their family home after it was revealed they harbored an accused member of Tren de Aragua, KOAT reported.
Homeland Security Investigations arrested three Venezuelan nationals during a raid on former judge Joel Cano’s property in late-February.
According to court documents, the men had been living in a small guest house on Cano’s property.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.