Former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan will be sentenced on Wednesday, July 8 in federal court in downtown Milwaukee.
Dugan is expected to speak at the sentencing, breaking a silence that has stretched back more than a year to when she was arrested on April 25, 2025.
A jury found Dugan guilty of obstructing a federal immigration proceeding, a felony, and not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of concealing a fugitive whom ICE agents were seeking to arrest, in December.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman will sentence Dugan and could give her prison time. However, Adelman has a reputation for sentences below the federal sentencing guidelines.
In their sentencing memo, prosecutors said that Dugan violated her judicial oath because she personally disagreed with immigration enforcement, putting law enforcement and the public at risk.
Dugan’s attorneys wrote in their sentencing memo that Dugan has been an outstanding public servant for decades, whose life has been shattered due to a quick decision she made during a chaotic time at the Milwaukee County courthouse.
Submitting nearly 20 letters of support from diverse sources, Dugan’s team said she “has been punished enough.”
Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske, who is now on faculty at the Marquette Law School, and Gregory P. O’Meara, rector of the Marquette University Jesuit Community, are expected to speak on Dugan’s behalf.
The hearing falls on the same day as Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Milwaukee. Streets outside both the Milwaukee Federal Courthouse, where Dugan will be sentenced, and the Pfister Hotel, where high-profile politicians and officials often stay when visiting Milwaukee, were blocked off the morning of July 8.
Dugan arrived at the courthouse at about 10:30 a.m. with her security escort for the 11:15 a.m. hearing. As of 11 a.m., all seats in the courtroom had been filled with nearly 50 people packing the gallery.
Appeal will be coming
The defense has said it will appeal the case to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Dugan’s lawyers may try to advance the arguments they have made since indictment. They contended the case should be dismissed on several grounds, including that Dugan had judicial immunity and that the obstruction statute was incorrectly applied.
They also may go after Adelman’s jury instructions as being wrong.
The case thrust the 67-year-old Milwaukee native to the forefront of a clash between local judges and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement.
Sentencing guidelines call for prison time
Under the federal sentencing guidelines, the pre-sentence report calls for 15 to 21 months behind bars. The maximum sentence is five years in prison.
Adelman is not bound by the guidelines.
Prosecutors noted that the average sentence for obstruction cases is 16 months, but didn’t recommend a sentence, saying, “This was a serious offense, and it warrants a correspondingly serious sentence.”
Dugan’s team wrote that the case was overcharged. They suggested she be sentenced to time served. She spent part of a day in federal custody.
First case of its kind to go to trial
The case against Dugan was sparked by the events of April 18, 2025, when ICE agents came to Dugan’s courtroom to arrest defendant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who had illegally re-entered the U.S. and was set to appear in her courtroom on battery charges.
Dugan and another judge questioned the agents and directed them to the office of the chief judge.
Dugan returned to her courtroom, called Flores-Ruiz’s case, and then led him and his lawyer into a hallway reserved for staff and jurors.
Flores-Ruiz and his attorney emerged in the public corridor. Agents followed. Flores-Ruiz was arrested outside after a short foot chase.
Dugan was elected to the bench in 2016. She resigned after the trial.
This story will be updated.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel interns Isabella Russomanno and Zachary Suri contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan to be sentenced July 8
Reporting by John Diedrich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By John Diedrich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
