Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan won’t face any prison time for her conviction of obstructing federal immigration officials.
In April 2025, the FBI arrested Dugan after video caught her directing agents away from a suspect, an illegal alien, whom they wanted to arrest. Her help allowed him to evade arrest temporarily.
A jury convicted Dugan in December 2025.
At today’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman imposed a $5,000 fine on Dugan.
“I think this is a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment,” Adelman said, according to The Associated Press.
“This is a person who has done a lot of good for our community,” added Adelman.
Prosecutors pushed for a serious sentence, telling the court, “the average sentence for obstruction cases is 16 months.” The crime “calls for 15 to 21 months behind bars.”
Adelman didn’t think Dugan deserved prison time:
Adelman then spoke, saying he doesn’t believe prison is necessary. He noted that Dugan lost her job, now has a felony conviction and experienced threats that forced her to move and stop attending community events.“This is a few minutes of conduct for someone who has dedicated her life to public service,” the judge said. “It’s a marked deviation from an otherwise law-abiding life.”He also noted that Dugan’s actions didn’t stop the ICE agents from arresting the defendant outside the courthouse.
Dugan said:
“My acts that day were consistent with the expressed administrative and community concerns for our state courthouse. My judicial acts were not done with any malicious intent,” Dugan said.She also told the court: “I’ve been cast as both a scofflaw and a hero. I am neither. I am a public servant who was just trying to do my job.”Dugan said that during her nine years as a judge, she tried to uphold justice, the law and the Constitution while maintaining decorum and safety in her courtroom.“For nine years as a judge I have strived to do my best to uphold justice, to uphold our laws and constitution, to have a courtroom of decorum and safety,” Dugan said. “I worked hard to uphold these duties every day and I had those same intentions on that day.”
Yeah, okay.
[Featured image via YouTube]
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY