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At the center of the case was Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an illegal alien accused of involvement in a violent assault. Federal agents arrived at the Milwaukee County Courthouse intending to arrest Flores Ruiz following a pre trial detention hearing.
According to prosecutors, that is when Judge Dugan intervened.
Video footage released before trial shows Dugan interacting with federal agents who were waiting outside her courtroom. The April 18 footage, obtained through an open records request, shows ICE agents being redirected down a hallway after the judge pointed them toward a door.
Prosecutors said this maneuver was not innocent.
They argued Dugan was intentionally distracting agents to buy time for Flores Ruiz to escape through a restricted exit. Moments after ICE agents left the immediate area, Flores Ruiz and his attorney exited the courtroom through a private jury door that leads to a secured, non public hallway.
One agent eventually spotted Flores Ruiz and followed him into an elevator. The footage shows Flores Ruiz later fleeing on foot for roughly a block before ICE agents caught and apprehended him.
The most damaging evidence came in the form of audio recordings from inside Dugan’s courtroom.
During the trial, jurors heard an audio clip recorded on April 21, 2025, shortly after Dugan learned ICE agents were present. In the recording, she whispered to her court reporter, “I’ll do it. I’ll get the heat.”
Prosecutors said the statement revealed clear intent to interfere.
Immediately afterward, Dugan directed Flores Ruiz and his attorney, Mercedes De La Rosa, to exit through the private jury door instead of the public hallway.
Additional audio recordings were played in court showing Dugan quietly discussing how Flores Ruiz should leave through the private exit and take the stairs “downstairs.” Video evidence presented alongside the audio showed the judge becoming visibly angry upon learning ICE was waiting.
Emails and witness testimony further strengthened the government’s case.
Prosecutors introduced communications in which Dugan told the defense attorney to “take your client out and come back and get a date.” Witnesses testified that this instruction was highly unusual for a judge and suggested urgency to remove Flores Ruiz from the courthouse as quickly as possible.
The trial also featured testimony from another judge.
On December 17, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Cervera testified that Dugan approached her just days after the incident. According to Cervera, Dugan admitted she was “in the doghouse” with the chief judge for trying to “help that guy.”
Cervera told jurors she was “shocked” and “mortified” when she learned Dugan had personally led Flores Ruiz through a restricted exit. She testified that such conduct was well outside normal judicial responsibilities and not standard protocol.
Following the guilty verdict, U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel rejected claims that the prosecution was politically motivated.
“Some have sought to make this about a larger political battle,” Schimel said. “While this case is serious for all involved, it is ultimately about a single day, a single bad day, in a public courthouse. The defendant is certainly not evil. Nor is she a martyr for some greater cause.”
The conviction marks a rare moment of accountability involving a sitting judge and underscores growing tensions between local officials and federal immigration enforcement.
For critics, the verdict sends a clear message that no one, not even a judge, is above the law when it comes to obstructing justice.
