Convicted of obstructing federal immigration agents, former Wisconsin Judge Hannah C. Dugan was spared jail time and let off with a fine Wednesday by a judge nominated by Democrat President Bill Clinton in 1997.
Judge Dugan is guilty of obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in April of last year when she helped an illegal alien evade arrest, as WTOV 9 explains:
“Dugan was convicted in December of felony obstruction after prosecutors said she intentionally misdirected Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national who had reentered the United States illegally, out of her courtroom through a private jury door while agents waited to arrest him.”
Flores-Ruiz was in Judge Dugan’s courtroom at the time to face charges of domestic battery. He was eventually tracked down, arrested and ultimately deported.
Dugan had faced a potential sentence of up to five years in prison. Instead, Clinton-nominated Judge Lynn Adelman let her off with a $5,000 fine.
“Rather than uphold the rule of law, the defendant used the power and prestige of judicial office to obstruct federal agents carrying out their lawful duties in order to help an individual evade arrest,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo calling for Judge Adelman to hand down a harsh sentence because Judge Dugan had abused her power as a judge:
“Rather than uphold the rule of law, the defendant used the power and prestige of judicial office to obstruct federal agents carrying out their lawful duties in order to help an individual evade arrest.”
Prosecutors said that Dugan not only violated her oath as a judge, but also endangered both the public and federal officers by helping the illegal alien escape.
“Judges are entrusted with tremendous discretion, but there is a line they cannot cross…the defendant crossed that line,” Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling wrote in a sentencing memo.
On Wednesday, Judge Adelman disagreed, dismissing Dugan’s crime as merely the actions of someone “upset by immigration policies”:
"I think this is a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment."
Apparently dissatisfied with her lenient sentence, Dugan’s lawyers say they will file an appeal with the 7th U.S. Circuit.
For her part, Dugan, who resigned from the bench in January amid calls for her impeachment, announced Wednesday that she plans to “return to public service."
