Milwaukee County circuit judge Hannah Dugan was arrested on April 25 by the FBI and charged with obstruction of justice after allegedly attempting to help an undocumented immigrant who had appeared in her courtroom evade arrest from ICE.

The complaint against Dugan that led to her arrest states that she helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant who is facing charges for misdemeanor battery, evade arrest by leading him and his defense attorney through a jury door that was not open to the public. Flores-Ruiz was eventually apprehended after leaving the courthouse.

An affidavit written by FBI Agent Lindsay Schloemer details what had happened that day. According to the affidavit, ICE agents had planned to arrest Flores-Ruiz on April 18 in the courthouse, as those inside the courthouse have already been screened and thus are less of a risk to arrest.

The affidavit alleges that Dugan became visibly angry when noticing the presence of ICE agents in the courthouse, and, alongside another judge, confronted the agents and asked if they had a judicial warrant, to which one agent replied that they had an administrative warrant. Dugan then demanded that they speak with the chief judge, after which she led Florez-Ruiz and his attorney through a jury door.

Since the arrest, Dugan has added leading conservative lawyer Paul Clement to her defense team. Clement has been noted to have clashed with the Trump administration on multiple occasions, such as opposing the withdrawal of federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and representing WilmerHale in their lawsuit against an order Trump had signed that restricted the law firm’s access to federal buildings and officials, and also cancelled federal contracts that were held by the firm’s clients.

If convicted, Dugan could face upwards of six years in prison. She has since been temporarily relieved of her duties while she remains under investigation, with her plea scheduled for May 15.