Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the Mexican national for whom a Wisconsin judge was arrested after allegedly helping him escape from immigration authorities, accepted a plea deal, conceding he illegally entered the United States and agreeing to be deported after he completes a prison sentence.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested in April by the FBI over allegations she helped Ruiz, an illegal immigrant, and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back jury door after learning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse to arrest Ruiz. She was indicted by a federal grand jury in May and faces two charges with a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine.
Ruiz was swiftly detained by ICE despite Dugan’s alleged efforts and signed a plea deal on June 20, admitting he returned to the United States illegally after initially being deported in January 2013. Ruiz stated he “knowingly and voluntarily agrees to be deported and removed from the United States following the completion of any term of imprisonment.” He faces a maximum penalty of two years of prison, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to one year of supervised release, according to the agreement, which was made public on Monday.
The saga sparked in March when Milwaukee police arrested Ruiz in a domestic violence case. The Mexican national was charged with misdemeanor counts of battery, domestic abuse, and causing physical harm after hitting his roommate over two dozen times in the head and choking him for several seconds, while hitting several women who tried to intervene.
After the March 12 battery assault, ICE was alerted to Ruiz’s return to the U.S. On April 18, federal agents showed up to arrest the suspect at the courthouse where he was scheduled to appear in a hearing before Dugan regarding the domestic violence case.
JUDGE THREATENS TO CLOSE COURT AFTER FBI ARREST OF MILWAUKEE JUDGE
After Dugan helped him briefly escape, Ruiz was later detained and arrested on charges of obstruction of justice by ICE over the incident, while the Department of Homeland Security revealed he is being prosecuted for an array of violent crime charges, including strangulation and suffocation, battery, and domestic abuse.
Dugan has filed a motion to dismiss the case against her, citing “absolute” judicial immunity from prosecution for her actions. However, the Justice Department earlier this month asked a federal judge to reject her immunity argument, claiming that her proposition would require the court to consider judges as “above the law.”