Dugan sentence: Former Milwaukee County judge in court Wednesday
MILWAUKEE - Former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan is back in court Wednesday, where she's scheduled to be sentenced for obstructing federal agents from carrying out an immigration enforcement operation.
When is Dugan being sentenced?
What's next:
Dugan's sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m. Cameras are not allowed inside the Federal Courthouse, but check back here and watch live coverage on the FOX LOCAL app for updates throughout the day.
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What was Dugan's conviction?
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.
Hannah Dugan leaves federal Courthouse in downtown Milwaukee
In December 2025, 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.
Motions for acquittal rejected
Timeline:
Dugan's defense team made several attempts to get a new trial and an acquittal. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman denied an attempt in April and scheduled sentencing for June 3.
In late May, Dugan's team made another push and Adelman agreed to hear oral arguments on a motion that he reconsider his earlier order that denied dismissal of the case. Those oral arguments were heard June 3.
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Adelman denied that second motion for acquittal on June 16 and later set a new Wednesday's date.
Dig deeper:
"Proceedings" was the one word at the center of a debate over Dugan's conviction.
In April, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Virginia, ruled in a different immigration case. That court found that obstructing an ICE arrest warrant did not constitute interfering with a federal proceeding.
That ruling became the basis for Dugan's latest appeal. Then, Dugan's team asked Adelman to reconsider his earlier ruling that dismissed Dugan's request. In particular, they asked him to overrule the jury and find her not guilty.
Federal prosecutors argued other cases back up Dugan's conviction, and they also argued the appeals court ruling did not apply to the Dugan case.
However, Adelman released his decision that Dugan "cannot satisfy the burden required for reconsideration."
The Source: FOX6 News was in court for the entirety of Dugan's federal trial. Information in this story is from the trial, as well as federal court filings and prior coverage of the case.