MADISON, Wis. — An immigrant who was arrested after a Milwaukee judge allegedly helped him dodge federal agents has been deported.
Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, pleaded guilty in September to illegally reentering the United States after he reached a deal with prosecutors. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security tweeted Friday afternoon that he has now been deported.
The tweet did not say whether he was transported back to his native Mexico or some other destination. The Associated Press sent an email message to his attorney, Martin Pruhs, seeking more details but he did not immediately respond.
Flores-Ruiz is at the center of a case against that could end with Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan in prison.
According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz left his home in Mexico at age 18 in 2013 and sneaked into the United States. He was apprehended and deported immediately after crossing the border, but reentered the country a few days later, making his way to Milwaukee where he worked in restaurants for about 12 years.
He was charged in March with three counts of misdemeanor battery after he allegedly got into a fight with his roommate. U.S. immigration agents learned he was in the country illegally after the Milwaukee County Jail submitted his fingerprints to federal databases, according to court documents.
He was scheduled to appear at a hearing before Dugan on April 18. U.S. immigration agents planned to arrest him at the hearing but, prosecutors say, Dugan learned they were waiting for him and led him out of her courtroom through a private door. From there Flores-Ruiz made his way outside. Agents captured him after a foot chase in the streets.
A federal grand jury indicted Dugan in May on charges of obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. She’s set to stand trial beginning Dec. 15. She could face up to six years in federal prison if convicted.
“Judge Hannah Dugan’s actions to obstruct this violent criminal’s arrest take ‘activist judge’ to a whole new meaning,” the Department of Homeland Security said in its posting Friday. “Thanks to the brave men and women of ICE law enforcement, this criminal is OUT of our country.”
Dugan has denied any wrongdoing, arguing she has the right to run her courtroom the way she sees fit. Her attorneys declined to comment on Friday, but they filed briefs earlier in the day noting that Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley sent an email to county judges about two weeks before Flores-Ruiz was arrested saying that courts must remain “safe havens” from immigration enforcement.
Flores-Ruiz spent most of the past seven months in jail. State prosecutors dropped two of the battery charges against him in October after he agreed to plead no contest to the third. He was sentenced to time served.
U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper sentenced him to time served on the illegal entry charge on Nov. 6 as per prosecutors’ recommendation after he agreed to plead guilty and promised not to fight deportation.
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This story has been updated to correct the plea that Flores-Ruiz entered to the charge of illegally reentering the U.S. He pleaded guilty, not no contest.
