Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, has been deported after pleading guilty to illegally reentering the United States, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Friday.
According to The Associated Press, the announcement did not specify whether he was returned to Mexico or another destination.
Flores-Ruiz’s case is closely tied to a federal investigation that could land Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan in prison. In May, a federal grand jury indicted Dugan on charges of obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted. Her trial is set to begin Dec. 15.
According to court records, Flores-Ruiz left Mexico at age 18 in 2013 and illegally crossed into the U.S. He was immediately deported but reentered the country a few days later, eventually settling in Milwaukee, where he worked in restaurants for roughly 12 years.
He was charged in March with three counts of misdemeanor battery following an alleged fight with his roommate. Federal immigration authorities discovered his undocumented status after the Milwaukee County Jail submitted his fingerprints to federal databases.
Flores-Ruiz was scheduled to appear before Dugan on April 18. Prosecutors say Dugan learned that U.S. immigration agents planned to arrest him at the hearing and led him out of the courtroom through a private door, allowing him to briefly escape. Officers eventually captured him following a foot chase.
“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 a tweet 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 authority to run her courtroom as she sees fit. Her attorneys declined to comment Friday but previously highlighted guidance from Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley emphasizing that courts must remain “safe havens” from immigration enforcement.
Flores-Ruiz spent the past seven months in jail. State prosecutors dropped two battery charges in October after he agreed to plead no contest to the third. He was sentenced to time served and, on Nov. 6, a federal judge formally sentenced him on the illegal entry charge, also to time served, after he agreed not to contest deportation.
