A judge in Wisconsin was found guilty late Thursday of obstruction for aiding a Mexican immigrant in avoiding federal authorities, after learning about his impending arrest. However, she was acquitted of charges related to concealing him.

Following six hours of deliberation, extending into the night, the jury delivered a split verdict against Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan. This outcome marks a significant setback for the sitting judge.

Judge Dugan could face a prison sentence of up to five years for obstruction, the more severe of the charges. However, it’s uncommon for first-time offenders to receive the maximum penalty.

A Wisconsin judge was found guilty late Thursday of obstruction for helping a Mexican immigrant evade federal authorities after learning of his imminent arrest but acquitted of concealing him. 

After six hours of deliberation, dragging into the night, a jury returned a split verdict against Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan — an extraordinary blow to the sitting judge.

She faces up to five years in prison for obstruction, the more serious of the charges, though first-time offenders rarely receive the harshest punishment. 

The atypical charges came amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which has often stuck courts in the middle of legal battles over his aggressive policies and deportation efforts.  

Prosecutors claimed that Dugan sought to block Eduardo Flores-Ruiz’s arrest for being in the U.S. without permanent legal status, guiding him out a back door of her courtroom after learning a federal immigration task force planned to take him into custody at the Milwaukee County Courthouse. 

A Mexican national who has since been deported, Flores-Ruiz was set to appear in Dugan’s courtroom on three misdemeanor counts of battery. Six agents and officers waited outside the room to arrest him once the hearing was over. 

Instead, Dugan led Flores-Ruiz out a private door and told her court reporter she’d “get the heat” for it, according to courtroom audio heard by the Associated Press. She also told the arrest team to consult with the chief judge in his chambers. 

A member of the team testified Tuesday that he remembered thinking they were in a “bad spot” because of Dugan’s directive to head toward the chief judge’s office. The team had to chase Flores-Ruiz down through traffic instead of safely arresting him in the building, he and other arresting officers said. 

Dugan’s defense attorney countered that the judge did not obstruct officers from arresting Flores-Ruiz in the public hallway that the private corridor led to and suggested that her directive to seek out the chief judge was an effort to abide by a draft courthouse policy telling court officials to refer immigration agents planning arrests there to superiors. 

“Now, after the fact, everyone wants to blame Judge Dugan,” lawyer Steven Biskupic said, according to The Associated Press. 

Dugan was arrested in April inside the courthouse where she worked and indicted in May on the two federal charges of obstruction and concealing an individual from arrest she faced.  

Prosecutors said during closing arguments that Dugan’s actions followed frustration with immigration arrests in courthouses and amounted to an intentional effort to give Flores-Ruiz an escape hatch and buy him time to use it.  

“A judge does not have absolute authority to do whatever she wants whenever she puts on her robe,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Brown Watzka, as reported by AP.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Frohling told the panel that the case was not a “referendum on ICE” but rather about “preserving the rule of law.” 

But Dugan’s attorneys urged jurors to act as a check on “government overreach,” contending that the “top levels of government” sought to influence the case. The Trump administration has branded Dugan as an “activist judge.” 

Defense attorney Jason Luczak insisted that Dugan — who did not testify in her own defense — would not risk her career to help Flores-Ruiz slip away. 

 “Give me a break,” he said, according to AP.  

The Associated Press contributed.