Latest news with #Flores-Ruiz
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mexican man allegedly aided by Wisconsin judge agrees to guilty plea
By Nate Raymond (Reuters) -A Mexican man who prosecutors say briefly evaded arrest with the help of a Wisconsin judge has agreed to plead guilty to illegally entering the United States. Federal prosecutors in Milwaukee on Monday filed a plea agreement with Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, resolving an illegal reentry charge filed against him after federal agents had sought his arrest at a Milwaukee courthouse on April 18. On that date, he appeared before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan in a battery case, and prosecutors have alleged Dugan misdirected the agents and escorted Flores-Ruiz to a side exit to help him escape. The officers caught him outside the courthouse. The judge was later indicted on charges of obstruction and concealing a person wanted for arrest. She has pleaded not guilty. Flores-Ruiz is slated to appear for a plea hearing on August 4. He faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and agreed to be deported after his sentence, according to the plea agreement. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Dugan declined to comment. The case against Dugan came after the U.S. Justice Department under Republican President Donald Trump vowed to investigate local officials who impede the administration's aggressive immigration enforcement. According to the plea agreement, Flores-Ruiz was deported in 2013 after he first entered the United States, then illegally reentered the country.
The Star
24-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Mexican man allegedly aided by Wisconsin judge agrees to guilty plea
(Reuters) -A Mexican man who prosecutors say briefly evaded arrest with the help of a Wisconsin judge has agreed to plead guilty to illegally entering the United States. Federal prosecutors in Milwaukee on Monday filed a plea agreement with Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, resolving an illegal reentry charge filed against him after federal agents had sought his arrest at a Milwaukee courthouse on April 18. On that date, he appeared before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan in a battery case, and prosecutors have alleged Dugan misdirected the agents and escorted Flores-Ruiz to a side exit to help him escape. The officers caught him outside the courthouse. The judge was later indicted on charges of obstruction and concealing a person wanted for arrest. She has pleaded not guilty. Flores-Ruiz is slated to appear for a plea hearing on August 4. He faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and agreed to be deported after his sentence, according to the plea agreement. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Dugan declined to comment. The case against Dugan came after the U.S. Justice Department under Republican President Donald Trump vowed to investigate local officials who impede the administration's aggressive immigration enforcement. According to the plea agreement, Flores-Ruiz was deported in 2013 after he first entered the United States, then illegally reentered the country. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Straits Times
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Mexican man allegedly aided by Wisconsin judge agrees to guilty plea
FILE PHOTO: Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, charged with obstructing an immigration arrest, leaves after appearing in court, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File Photo A Mexican man who prosecutors say briefly evaded arrest with the help of a Wisconsin judge has agreed to plead guilty to illegally entering the United States. Federal prosecutors in Milwaukee on Monday filed a plea agreement with Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, resolving an illegal reentry charge filed against him after federal agents had sought his arrest at a Milwaukee courthouse on April 18. On that date, he appeared before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan in a battery case, and prosecutors have alleged Dugan misdirected the agents and escorted Flores-Ruiz to a side exit to help him escape. The officers caught him outside the courthouse. The judge was later indicted on charges of obstruction and concealing a person wanted for arrest. She has pleaded not guilty. Flores-Ruiz is slated to appear for a plea hearing on August 4. He faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and agreed to be deported after his sentence, according to the plea agreement. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Dugan declined to comment. The case against Dugan came after the U.S. Justice Department under Republican President Donald Trump vowed to investigate local officials who impede the administration's aggressive immigration enforcement. According to the plea agreement, Flores-Ruiz was deported in 2013 after he first entered the United States, then illegally reentered the country. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump administration asks federal court not to dismiss charges against Milwaukee County judge
Protesters gather outside of the Milwaukee FBI office to speak out against the arrest of Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner) Prosecutors for the Trump administration filed a brief Monday requesting that a federal judge not dismiss the government's indictment against Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan. Dugan faces criminal charges after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, along with agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency and FBI, arrived in the Milwaukee County Courthouse April 18 to arrest 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz for being in the country illegally. Flores-Ruiz was set to appear in Dugan's courtroom that day for a status hearing on misdemeanor charges against him. When Dugan learned that the agents were outside her courtroom, she confronted them and learned they only had an administrative warrant, which was issued by an agency official and not a judge. An administrative warrant doesn't allow agents to enter private spaces in the courthouse such as Dugan's courtroom. Later, while the agents were waiting for Flores-Ruiz in the hallway outside the main courtroom door, Dugan sent him and his attorney out a side door into the hallway. One of the agents rode down the elevator with Flores-Ruiz and he was later arrested on the street. Dugan-DOJ-Filing Dugan was charged with concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor, and obstruction, which is a felony. Last month, Dugan's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case against her, arguing she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore immune from prosecution for her actions and that the federal government is impinging on the state of Wisconsin's authority to operate its court system. The case drew national attention, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel both making public statements about Dugan's arrest before she'd even been indicted. Legal experts have questioned the strength of the federal government's case and accused Trump officials of grandstanding to make a political point. In the Monday filing, federal prosecutors argued that dismissing the case would ignore previously established law that allows judges to face criminal charges. 'Such a ruling would give state court judges carte blanche to interfere with valid law enforcement actions by federal agents in public hallways of a courthouse, and perhaps even beyond,' the prosecutors argued. 'Dugan's desired ruling would, in essence, say that judges are 'above the law,' and uniquely entitled to interfere with federal law enforcement.' Dugan is set to appear for trial on July 21. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Milwaukee judge not immune from charges after allegedly helping illegal immigrant evade ICE, prosecutors say
Federal prosecutors are pushing back against Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan's motion to dismiss an indictment filed against her for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in the Milwaukee County Courthouse last month. Dugan, 65, was indicted last month on federal charges of obstruction of proceedings before a U.S. agency and unlawful concealment of an individual subject to arrest. Her attorneys say she is entitled to judicial immunity and that the federal government overstepped its authority by arresting and charging her, violating her 10th Amendment rights and the principle of separation of powers, according to court documents filed in late May. On Wednesday, prosecutors filed a response to her motion to dismiss, noting that "the Supreme Court has made clear that judges are not immune from criminal liability." Wisconsin Judge Claims 'Absolute Immunity,' Calls Doj Indictment An 'Ugly Innovation' "In the end, Dugan asks for this Court to develop a novel doctrine of judicial immunity from criminal prosecution, and to apply it to the facts alleged in the indictment, all without reasonable basis—directly or indirectly—in the Constitution, statutes, or case law," prosecutors wrote. Read On The Fox News App "In her lengthy memorandum, Dugan concedes that '[j]udges, like legislators and executive officials, are not above the law,'" they said. "Dugan's desired ruling would, in essence, say that judges are 'above the law,' and uniquely entitled to interfere with federal law enforcement," prosecutors added. Federal prosecutors allege that the Milwaukee Circuit Court judge personally escorted Mexican illegal immigrant and domestic battery suspect Eduardo Flores-Ruiz out of the courthouse on April 18 while ICE agents were attempting to serve a warrant. New Footage Shows Milwaukee Judge Confronting Ice Before Allegedly Helping Illegal Immigrant Exit The surveillance footage recently released by Milwaukee County in response to an open records request appears to show Dugan, wearing her black robe, confronting ICE agents in the courthouse hallway. Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan To Enter Plea In Federal Court Federal prosecutors say members of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), along with federal partners from the FBI, DEA, and U.S. 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. WATCH THE SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE: After becoming aware of what federal officials described as a valid immigration arrest warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan allegedly told agents that they needed a judicial warrant and told them to go to the chief judge's office. The agents then left their place in the hallway, at which point Dugan allegedly chose 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 in the courthouse at the time, the Justice Department said in a press release. Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan Indicted After Allegedly Helping Illegal Alien Evade Ice While Dugan argues that ICE agents interrupted goings-on in the courthouse on April 18, prosecutors say it was Dugan who disrupted proceedings. "The evidence also will show that agents were not in the courtroom when Dugan took the bench, but that—after being told by a member of her staff that ICE agents were present in the hallway—Dugan chose to pause an unrelated case, leave her courtroom, disrupt proceedings in a colleague's courtroom to commandeer her assistance, and then confront agents in the public hallway," the filing says. Wisconsin Judge Accused Of Obstructing Ice Could Face Years In Prison, Doj Has 'Upper Hand': Former Prosecutor Prosecutors say evidence also shows Dugan directing agents to the chief judge's office even while knowing he was out, then she "quickly returned to her courtroom and, among other things, directed [Florez-Ruiz's] attorney to 'take your client out and come back and get a date; and then to go through the jury door and down the stairs' before physically escorting [Flroes-Ruiz] and his attorney into a non-public hallway with access to a stairwell that led to a courthouse exit," filings say. Dugan "did this all just days after thanking a colleague for providing information which explained that ICE could lawfully make arrests in the courthouse hall," prosecutors stated Wednesday. "Put simply, nothing in the indictment or the anticipated evidence at trial supports Dugan's assertion that agents 'disrupted' the court's docket; instead, all events arose from Dugan's unilateral, non-judicial, and unofficial actions in obstructing a federal immigration matter over which she, as a Wisconsin state judge, had no authority," the document reads. "At the very least, for purposes of deciding this motion, Dugan's claims to the contrary find no support in the indictment and should be rejected." One of Dugan's defense attorneys, Dean Strang, told Fox News Digital that her counsel has a "good reply" to prosecutors' Wednesday filing, but her team is waiting until their reply brief, due next Monday, to make it. The Milwaukee judge has pleaded not guilty to charges filed against her, and a federal judge has set her trial date for July 21. A federal indictment accuses Dugan of "falsely" telling federal officials in April that they needed a warrant to come into her courtroom during a scheduled appearance by Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented Mexican national facing three misdemeanor battery charges. Video footage appears to show Flores-Ruiz exiting the courthouse with his attorney, while an ICE agent follows him, and then running alongside the building for about a block before agents capture and arrest him. Federal officials arrested Dugan a week after the courthouse incident. Dugan could face a maximum sentence of six years. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against her. Fox News Digital has reached out to her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, for comment on the footage. In April, Dugan's legal team also filed a motion to dismiss the federal case against her, saying 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," the motion said. Fox News Digital's Rachel Wolf contributed to this article source: Milwaukee judge not immune from charges after allegedly helping illegal immigrant evade ICE, prosecutors say
