Former Wisconsin judge receives no jail time for obstructing immigration arrest inside courthouse

A former Wisconsin judge avoided jail time on Wednesday after being found guilty of obstructing a planned immigration ‌arrest outside her courtroom in 2025. 

Hanna Dugan, 67, was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, but she wasn't sentenced to any jail time, Fox News reported. 

Dugan was an elected judge on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. She was convicted in a federal trial in December in a case related to the Trump administration's use of courthouses to make immigration arrests, Reuters reported. 

Prosecutors allege Dugan directed an immigrant from Mexico, who was scheduled to appear in her courtroom on misdemeanor assault charges, to leave through a non-public "jury door" in an attempt to help the man avoid federal agents who were waiting outside her courtroom. The man was arrested after a brief foot chase. 

Prosecutors didn't make a sentencing recommendation, but they argued that federal guidelines call for between 15 and 21 months in prison. Dugan's attorneys dispute that federal guidelines require that sentence and asked their client be given time served, meaning she'll serve no prison time.