The Milwaukee judge, Hannah Dugan, was arrested for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant evade arrest, the FBI director says.
The FBI arrested a Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, circuit judge for allegedly assisting an illegal immigrant in evading arrest, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Friday.
Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested on obstruction charges, Patel confirmed in a post on X on Friday. The FBI made the arrest “after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,” he added.
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.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) April 25, 2025
We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be…
“We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flore- Ruiz, allowing the subject—an illegal alien—to evade arrest,” the FBI director said.
Patel said that Flores-Ruiz is also in federal custody but added that the judge’s alleged “obstruction created increased danger to the public.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi later confirmed on social media that Dugan was arrested for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant evade U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) officials. Other details about the alleged incident were not provided by either Patel or Bondi.
Court records detailing Dugan’s arrest show that she was charged with obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.
An Associated Press reporter said that Dugan appeared in a federal court hearing on Friday, and she was released from custody.
A lawyer for Dugan, Craig Mastantuono, said during the court hearing that the judge “wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” according to the AP reporter.
In the court filing that was unsealed Friday, it included an affidavit from a FBI special agent who provided more details about the incident. When federal immigration agents traveled to the Milwaukee County Courthouse with an arrest warrant to detain Flores-Ruiz earlier this month, at one point, Dugan escorted the man through a jury door to allegedly avoid being arrested.
“Despite having been advised of the administrative warrant for the arrest of Flores-Ruiz, Judge Dugan then escorted Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of the courtroom through the ‘jury door,’ which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse,” the FBI special agent said, adding that the scenario was “unusual.”
