Photo credit: WCTI
A Wisconsin judge has been found guilty of obstruction for helping a Mexican immigrant evade ICE arrest in a victory for Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal migration.
The Daily Mail reports that federal prosecutors had charged Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan with obstruction, a felony, and concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanour, in April.
The indictment accused Dugan of “knowingly” concealing an undocumented migrant, Eduardo Flores-Rulz, so he wouldn’t be discovered and arrested by officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Dugan allegedly helped Flores-Rulz evade arrest when he appeared in her courtroom on April 18, for a pretrial hearing in a domestic abuse case.
She was acquitted on the concealment count. However, she still faces up to five years in prison on the obstruction count; a sentencing date has not been scheduled.
The Trump administration branded Dugan an activist judge, and Democrats countered that the White House was trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to the operation.
Dugan and her attorneys left the courtroom, ducked into a side conference room and closed the door without speaking to reporters.
Steve Biskupic, her lead attorney, later told reporters that he was disappointed with the ruling and didn’t understand how the jury could have reached a split verdict since the elements of both charges were virtually the same.
US Attorney Brad Schimel denied the case was political and urged people to accept the verdict peacefully.
