Ex-judge sentenced to no prison time for helping illegal immigrant evade arrest
former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was sentenced to a $5,000 fine for assisting an illegal immigrant in evading arrest, avoiding prison time. U.S. District Judge lynn Adelman emphasized that Dugan’s actions were a momentary bad decision and not indicative of her otherwise law-abiding life, though she was convicted of obstruction of justice. Dugan resigned from her judicial position and cannot serve as a judge in Wisconsin while her felony conviction remains. Her lawyers plan to appeal the case. The conviction stemmed from helping eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal immigrant, exit the courthouse after federal immigration officers arrived to arrest him. The case was high-profile, with the Justice Department highlighting it as an example that no one is above the law.
Former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was sentenced to a $5,000 fine Wednesday for helping an illegal immigrant evade arrest last year but avoided prison time in her criminal case.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, a Clinton appointee, declined to give Dugan a prison sentence or probation, saying he did not believe it was a necessary punishment for someone who “who made a bad decision in the moment.” Dugan was convicted by a federal jury in December on a felony obstruction charge.
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“This is a few minutes of conduct for someone who has dedicated her life to public service,” Adelman said, per the Associated Press. “It’s a marked deviation from an otherwise law-abiding life.”
The maximum sentence for Dugan’s conviction was five years in prison, but because she had no prior criminal record, she was unlikely to get close to that sentence. Dugan resigned from her position on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court and is ineligible to serve as a judge in Wisconsin as long as her felony conviction is upheld.
Dugan’s lawyers had requested a sentence of time served, arguing that she “has lost the judicial job she loved and that was the culmination of a career spent serving others” and that “sentencing need not do worse to her.” During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, Dugan said she was “a public servant who was just trying to do my job.”
“My acts that day were consistent with the expressed administrative and community concerns for our state courthouse. My judicial acts were not done with any malicious intent,” Dugan said, per Milwaukee television station WISN.
The Justice Department recommended a “serious sentence” because it said she improperly “used the power and prestige of judicial office to obstruct federal agents carrying out their lawful duties.”
The former judge’s conviction stems from helping Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal immigrant who appeared in April 2025 before her court, and his lawyer exit her courtroom via a side door after federal immigration officers appeared at the courthouse to arrest him. Flores-Ruiz was arrested shortly after leaving the courthouse, while Dugan was arrested roughly a week later.
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Dugan’s lawyers have said they plan to appeal the conviction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
The conviction of Dugan last year was a significant win for the DOJ, which had touted Dugan’s arrest as a high-profile example that “no one is above the law,” as FBI Director Kash Patel asserted in a post at the time of her arrest.
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