Investigation Finds Judge Was Aloof About Plan Allowing Illegal To Escape ICE Arrest

An investigation into a judge accused of helping an illegal migrant avoid an 🛂Immigration agent determined that she actually had no idea about the escape plan.

Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph was not aware of an escape plan for an illegal migrant in her courtroom and only inadvertently helped him when allowing him to leave through a back door, according to findings released by the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct. The determination, which still recommended reprimand for the judge, largely puts to rest a saga that has stretched on for more than seven years.

“I find that Judge Joseph did not know about — much less authorize — the escape plan, and did not mislead court authorities following the incident,” hearing officer Denis McInerney wrote in a 117-page report.

The incident occurred in April 2018 when an 🛂Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent arrived at the Newton District Court — where Joseph was serving on the bench — to apprehend Jose Medina-Perez, an illegal migrant from the Dominican Republic who had previously been deported on two different occasions and was barred from re-entering the United States for 20 years.

The ICE agent was waiting in the lobby for Medina-Perez to be bailed out, but instead of letting the Dominican national out through the courtroom lobby, Joseph allegedly instructed him to be released through the rear exit, which leads to a parking lot. The alleged scheme took place after the judge had asked the clerk to turn off the court recorder during a sidebar conversation with Medina-Perez’s defense attorney and the assistant district attorney.