'I'll get the heat': Milwaukee judge is now a convicted felon after violent illegal alien dodged ICE from her courtroom

Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan tried her best to avoid consequence for her role in Eduardo Flores-Ruiz — an illegal alien from Mexico who later pled no contest to one count of battery and guilty to re-entering the U.S. — briefly evading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Her best was evidently not good enough.

Dugan, relieved of her duties as a judge in April by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, was found guilty on Thursday of obstructing federal agents — a felony. The jury did not, however, find Dugan guilty of the lesser misdemeanor charge of concealing a fugitive from justice.

'Dugan's actions to obstruct this violent criminal’s arrest take "activist judge" to a whole new meaning.'

"The defendant is certainly not evil nor is she a martyr for some greater cause," Brad Schimel, the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, told reporters after Dugan learned her fate. "We must all accept the verdict peacefully."

Schimel emphasized that "experience and common sense as well as the evidence presented in this case" demonstrate that the safest place to execute an arrest warrant is within a public area of a courthouse that has security screening — and that the 66-year-old judge's actions endangered multiple people.

"The defendant's actions provided an opportunity for a wanted subject to flee outside that safe courthouse environment, which led to a dangerous foot chase through automobile traffic and eventually to an agent taking the subject to the ground, which is always hazardous for both the officer and the suspect," said Schimel. "There was certainly potential for many other dangers as well."

RELATED: 'Truly wicked': Trump administration blasts Obama judge over praise of illegal alien who raped disabled American woman

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

ICE agents accompanied by both FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents traveled to the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18, 2025, to arrest Flores-Ruiz, aware that the previously deported Mexican national was scheduled to attend a pre-trial hearing overseen by Dugan.

Upon learning of ICE's presence from an attorney, the now-felonious judge "became visibly angry, commented that the situation was 'absurd,' left the bench, and entered chambers" while Flores-Ruiz was seated in the gallery of the courtroom, according to the original FBI charging document.

The indictment claimed that Dugan proceeded to commit several affirmative acts to aid the illegal alien in evading arrest, including:

• confronting members of the ICE task force and falsely telling them they needed a judicial warrant to effectuate the arrest;
• directing the federal agents to go to the chief judge's office after she learned they had the required administrative warrant for Flores-Ruiz's arrest;
• dealing with Flores-Ruiz's criminal case off the record while the ICE task force was in the chief judge's office;
• directing the illegal alien and his counsel to flee the courtroom via a non-public jury door; and
• advising the Mexican's counsel that he could appear remotely for his next court date.

The judge's actions were observed by multiple witnesses and captured on film.

With Dugan's help, the Mexican national ran out of the building. Federal agents were, however, able to catch up with him.

Flores-Ruiz was ultimately deported on Nov. 13.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, noted at the time, "Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a previously removed illegal alien, has a laundry list of violent criminal charges, including strangulation and suffocation, battery, and domestic abuse. Judge Hannah Dugan's actions to obstruct this violent criminal’s arrest take 'activist judge' to a whole new meaning."

In the lead-up to the trial, Dugan's lawyers tried desperately to get her case dismissed, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Trump v. United States and claiming that the radical judge was immune from criminal prosecution for judicial acts, that her prosecution violates the limits of federal power under the 10th Amendment, and that her indictment should be dismissed under the canon of constitutional avoidance.

Such efforts proved fruitless.

The jury saw and heard plenty of damning evidence during the trial that began on Monday.

They heard, for instance, an audio recording where Dugan told a court reporter that Flores-Ruiz could escape through a side door, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Although Dugan's court reporter volunteered to walk the illegal alien out, Dugan said she instead would do it: "I'll get the heat."

The jury also heard from numerous witnesses, including Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kristela Cervera, who testified, "Judges should not be helping defendants evade arrest."

Cervera was the individual who escorted the federal agents to Chief Judge Carl Ashley's office.

For her felony conviction, Dugan could face up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

The disgraced judge's attorney, Steve Biskupic, indicated Dugan's team will file a motion with the Clinton-appointed federal judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, asking to set aside the conviction.

"The case is a long way from over," said Biskupic.

While Dugan has been on administrative leave for several months, the New York Times indicated she has continued to collect her $174,000 salary.

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