By TODD RICHMOND
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Plea negotiations with a Wisconsin judge accused of helping an immigrant evade federal agents are underway as her trial nears, the newly minted federal prosecutor overseeing the case said Tuesday.
Interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that attorneys are “discussing potential resolution” of the case against Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, but her attorneys haven’t shown they’re willing to accept any offer.
A plea agreement would mark a surprising de-escalation by prosecutors in a case that has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Schimel said plea negotiations are part of a “normal process to resolve a case and eliminate risk for both sides, to find a resolution that makes sense. That’s all.”
Dugan’s defense attorneys said she’s innocent and they’re preparing for a trial next month.
According to court documents, federal agents in April learned that an immigrant who was in the country illegally was scheduled to appear before Dugan in a state battery case. The agents traveled to the Milwaukee County Courthouse to apprehend the man, 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz.
Dugan learned the agents were in the courthouse and showed Flores-Ruiz out of her courtroom through a private door. Flores-Ruiz was able to make his way outside, but agents captured him following a foot chase. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that he had been deported.
Dugan was arrested at the courthouse a week after the chase and a federal grand jury indicted her on charges of obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest in May. Dugan has argued she did nothing wrong and she has complete authority over movement in her courtroom.
Her trial is set to begin Dec. 15. She could face up to six years in prison if convicted.
Dugan’s indictment has intensified the clash between the Trump administration and local authorities over the Republican’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Democrats have accused the Trump administration of trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to the crackdown. The administration has worked to vilify her on social media. FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo on the social platform X of Dugan being led out of the courthouse in handcuffs. And the U.S. Department of Homeland Security posted on X last week that Dugan has taken the term “‘activist judge’ to a whole new meaning.”
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi on Monday appointed Schimel as the Eastern District of Wisconsin’s interim U.S. attorney. He replaces acting U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling, who brought the case against Dugan. Schimel served as Wisconsin attorney general from 2015 to 2019. Then-Gov. Scott Walker appointed him to a state judgeship after he lost reelection in 2018. He ran unsuccessfully for the state Supreme Court this past spring.
John Vaudreuil, a former U.S. attorney in Wisconsin’s Western District, said he was surprised that Schimel would comment publicly on plea negotiations, saying such discussions are private and announcing them could be seen as putting pressure on a defendant.
Still, he said that he’s not surprised negotiations are taking place. During his stint as U.S. attorney, his office extended offers in most cases as a professional courtesy even if it appeared there was no middle ground, Vaudreuil said.
Schimel is likely taking orders from the upper echelons of the U.S. Department of Justice on how to handle Dugan, making the chances of a resolution short of trial slim, he said.
“If the attorney general of the United States says it has to be a felony and it has to be jail time, I don’t suspect that’s where the defense is starting from,” Vaudreuil said. “When the case started, there were a lot of things said from on high that would make it difficult to come to a resolution of the case.”
