Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley is working on ice enforcement
Milwaukee County Judge Carl Ashley is working on ice enforcement in court following the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan and federal accusations
MILWAUKEE – The Federal Jury tried to support the Wisconsin judge on May 13 in the midst of a growing conflict between President Donald Trump and the judicial system last month, attempting to support the arrest of undocumented immigrants from court.
The two-page indictment accused Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, 66, of obstructing US agencies and hiding individuals to prevent arrests. The two charges will result in the largest penalty in a six-year prison and a $350,000 fine, but the sentences for non-violent crimes are usually much shorter.
Dugan will enter his petition at the May 15th hearing.
“As I said after the unnecessary arrest, Judge Dugan has argued her innocence and is looking forward to being proven in court,” Dugan’s defense team said in a statement.
The indictment came after a series of witnesses entered federal court all day on May 13th to testify before a large ju trial. Among the people featured were Alain Fried Jr., the court clerk at Dugan, and Mercedes de la Rosa, the lawyer for Eduardo Flores Luis, an undocumented immigrant at the heart of the case. De La Rosa has withdrawn from his lawsuit.
Also testified was Milwaukee County Judge Christella Servera, a misdemeanor judge whose court is next to Dugan. She arrived and left with defense attorney Michael F. Hart. Cervera, Hart, and Freed declined to comment.
The 20-man big ju judge returned the charges against Dugan at 5:10pm local time on May 13th, before Judge Nancy Joseph, at 5:10pm local time. No votes have been made by the large ju judge.
Joseph said the required number was recorded. 12 out of the 20 ju umpires must vote to indict them. After a brief indicted return hearing, Joseph reminded the Great Ju trial of their oaths and kept the case secret.
US lawyer Richard Floring appeared in the government, which is unusual and highlights the case’s profile. US District Judge Lynn Adelman was chosen to preside on the Dugan case.
A Wisconsin judge was accused of helping humans avoid immigration authorities
The case stems from the arrest of Flores Lewis, 30, in Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18th. His arrest is part of the Trump administration’s federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
According to criminal charges, Dugan is accused of escorting Flores Lewis and his public defense attorney through the side door and through the hallway. In the end, two federal agents chased Flores Lewis outside the courtroom and arrested him.
A week later, Dugan was arrested in court, handcuffed and appeared before a federal magistrate, gaining federal custody. FBI Director Kash Patel has announced that Dugan has been arrested for X.
The indictment omits some details provided in previous criminal charges against Dugan. The six arrest team appeared on the sixth floor of Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 with plans to arrest Flores Lewis, according to the criminal charges.
According to the complaint, De Laza took photos of individual members of the arrest team, warned Fried that federal agents were out of court, telling him where they were sitting and what they were wearing. Fried, a former Employment Law and Disabled Rights Attorney, informed Dugan of the situation.
The indictment then accused Dugan of leaving the courtroom and facing a team of six arrests in the hallway, misrepresenting that a judicial warrant, not an administrator, was required to detain Flores Lewis.
He also allegedly in 2016 the veteran judge had directed the group to leave the public corridor and go to the office of Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley. The criminal charges say Cervera, a misdemeanor judge, took the group to Ashley’s office, made a copy of the warrant, and spoke to Ashley over the phone about their plans.
However, Cervera left one agent behind in a public corridor, the criminal charges said.
Dugan is accused of expediting the then Flores Lewis case by processing it from records while most of the members of the arrest team were in Ashley’s office. Dugan then directed Flores Lewis and his lawyer, De La Rosa, to leave the room via “a private ju judge’s door,” according to the indictment.
The door led to an adjacent corridor and a public area with an elevator on the sixth floor of the courthouse.
Dugan told De La Rosa that her clients could appear on Zoom for the next court date. However, the federal agents left behind by Cervera saw Dellaza and her clients in the public hallways and entered the elevator with them, leading to Flores Lewis’ final arrest.
Flores Lewis holds federal custody at the Ozakey County Jail. He is expected to have a new public defense counsel named before the next court hearing on May 14th.
Judge arrests cause scrutiny
Dugan’s arrest in the court prompted widespread criticism from protesters and local government officials. Milwaukee County Judge Carl Ashley said he and his colleagues were “all interested” about how Dugan was handcuffed in court.
But Trump officials said they regularly execute warrants and arrest them in public buildings because they know where and when people are there and that those who pass security checkpoints are not armed.
According to a May 6 CNN report, 12 cases have been confirmed by people arrested on ice on or near court premises in Virginia or New Hampshire, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Wisconsin.
