Former Milwaukee County Judge Dugan's acquittal motion denied

MILWAUKEE - Former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan's motion seeking a new trial and acquittal has been denied, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Dugan and her defense team requested a new trial and an acquittal, but U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman denied that request in April. She was then scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. on June 3.

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But days before the sentencing date, Adelman signed an order to hear oral arguments for Dugan's motion that he reconsider a prior order denying dismissal of the case. Adelman heard those arguments on June 3.

On Tuesday, Adelman released his decision that Dugan "cannot satisfy the burden required for reconsideration." 

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The backstory:

A grand jury's two-count indictment accused Dugan of obstructing federal agents and helping an undocumented man evade those agents, who planned to arrest him inside the Milwaukee County Courthouse to arrest him in April 2025. Prosecutors said Dugan told the agents to go to the chief judge's office down the hall and then directed the undocumented man and his attorney to leave her courtroom through a back door.

In December, a jury found Dugan guilty of felony obstruction but not guilty of the misdemeanor charge that accused her of helping the undocumented man evade the agents. She resigned as judge in early January.

Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the man Dugan was accused of helping, was ultimately arrested outside the courthouse. He later pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the U.S. and, in November, was deported.

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