Two judges have been arrested and charged with illegally aiding illegal aliens, FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi reported Friday.
“Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,” Patel wrote in a X.com post:
“We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.
“Thankfully, our agents chased down the perp on foot and he’s been in custody since, but the Judge’s obstruction created increased danger to the public.
“We will have more to share soon. Excellent work @FBIMilwaukee.”
“I can confirm that our @FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan – a county judge in Milwaukee – for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by @ICEgov,” AG Bondi wrote on X.com.
“No one is above the law,” Bondi declared.
Cano resigned from the bench last month after an illegal alien and suspected gang member was found living at the judge’s home, as the Albuquerque Journal reports:
“Although his resignation letter, dated March 3, did not state his reason for stepping down, it followed shortly after a man awaiting deportation proceedings, accused by federal law enforcement of being affiliated with a Venezuelan gang, was arrested at Cano’s home.
“Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, 23, faces federal firearm charges after Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant on Feb. 28 at a Las Cruces residence owned by Cano and his wife, Nancy.”
Both Judge Cano and his wife were taken into custody Thursday after federal agents raided their home, Fox News reports:
“The two face charges of evidence tampering amid allegations they harbored Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, an alleged illegal alien who is also believed to be a member of Venezuela’s notorious Tren de Aragua gang.”
In December of 2013, Ortega-Lopez was released from Border Patrol on the condition he return for court proceedings, per a Notice to Appear. He failed to do so and, as a result, authorities launched deportation proceedings via the Immigration and Nationality Act.
On Tuesday, the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a ruling permanently barring Judge Cano from holding any judicial office in the state.
Judge Hannah Dugan was charged with two felonies, obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing an individual to prevent an arrest, for her role in helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom last week, according to a report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
“Officials have not yet identified the defendant whom she is accused of assisting, but it appears to be Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican immigrant facing three misdemeanor battery counts. He was in Dugan's courtroom on April 18 for a pre-trial conference.”
Flores-Ruiz is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Judge Dugan reportedly spirited the illegal alien and battery suspect through her chambers and out a private back door as ICE attempted to arrest him.
ICE agents chased Flores-Ruiz through the streets and, eventually, apprehended him.
"We could not believe that a judge really did that," Attorney General Bondi said in a Fox News interview discussing, noting the brutality of the crimes Flores-Ruiz is accused of:
"You cannot obstruct a criminal case. And really, shame on her. It was a domestic violence case of all cases, and she's protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime."
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"[He] beat the guy, hit the guy 30 times, knocked him to the ground, choked him, beat up a woman so badly, they both had to go to the hospital."
AG Bondi explains what led to the arrests of the two judges in her Fox News interview.