Newly leaked camera footage appears to show Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan communicating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in the Milwaukee County Courthouse before allegedly directing an illegal immigrant defendant to use a hidden exit.
Dugan, 65, was indicted last month on federal counts of obstructing proceedings before a US agency and improper concealment of an arrestable suspect.
Federal prosecutors claim that the Milwaukee Circuit Court judge personally walked Mexican illegal immigrant and domestic assault suspect Eduardo Flores-Ruiz out of the courthouse in April when ICE officers attempted to serve a warrant.
Milwaukee County released security footage in response to an open records request, which appears to show Dugan approaching ICE agents in the courthouse hallway while wearing her black robe.
According to federal prosecutors, members of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), as well as federal partners from the FBI, DEA, and US Customs and Border Protection, were preparing to serve Flores-Ruiz with a warrant in a public courthouse hallway on April 18 before his scheduled court appearance with Dugan.
After learning of what federal officials characterized as a lawful immigration arrest warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan allegedly told agents that they required a judicial warrant and directed them to the chief judge’s office.
The agents then left their position in the hallway, at which point Dugan allegedly decided not to hold a hearing for Flores-Ruiz and “personally escorted” the suspect and his attorney through a private exit while the victims of his alleged crimes were present in the courthouse, according to a Justice Department press release.
A federal indictment accuses Dugan of “falsely” informing federal officials in April that they required a warrant to enter her courtroom for Flores-Ruiz’s planned hearing, an illegal Mexican national facing three minor violence offenses.
Flores-Ruiz is seen fleeing the courthouse with his counsel, followed by an ICE agent, and then running alongside the building for nearly a block before being apprehended and arrested.
A week after the courthouse incident, federal officials detained Dugan.
Dugan faces a maximum sentence of six years. She has pled not guilty to the accusations brought against her. Fox News Digital has contacted her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, for comment on the footage.
Last month, Dugan’s legal team submitted a move to dismiss the federal complaint against her, claiming that the judge “is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts.”
“Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset,” according to the motion.