Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan indicted by grand jury on federal charges
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(MILWAUKEE) — A federal grand jury has indicted a Wisconsin judge who was arrested and charged last month with allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan has been indicted on charges alleging she concealed a person from arrest and obstructed a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States — the same charges she was initially charged with by complaint.
She is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on Thursday.
Following the indictment on Tuesday, her legal team said in a statement, “As she said after her unnecessary arrest, Judge Dugan asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court.”
The judge was arrested on April 25. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement at the time that two FBI agents arrested Dugan “for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid arrest” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Dugan appeared in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin following her arrest and was released on her own recognizance. If convicted, she could face up to six years in prison.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Dugan in the wake of her arrest, stating in an order that it found it was “in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties.”
Her case stems from the arrest of an undocumented immigrant — Eduardo Flores-Ruiz — on April 18, county court records show. Flores-Ruiz was set to appear in court that day before Dugan for a pretrial conference in an ongoing case where he has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery/domestic abuse.
Upon learning ICE officers were present in court to arrest Flores-Ruiz, Dugan allegedly became “visibly angry” and confronted one of the officers, according to the federal complaint that was unsealed following her arrest.
Multiple witnesses cited in the complaint later allegedly said Dugan returned to her courtroom after directing members of the arrest team to the office of the court’s chief judge, according to the complaint.
A DEA agent saw Flores-Ruiz and his attorney in the public hallway of the courthouse and he appeared to be making efforts to evade arrest, the complaint stated. After he was encountered by FBI and DEA agents outside the building, Flores-Ruiz “turned around and sprinted down the street” before he was ultimately apprehended, according to the complaint.
In a post on social media, FBI Director Kash Patel claimed Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse.”
(LOS ANGELES) — Erik and Lyle Menendez’s long-awaited resentencing hearing will move forward on Thursday despite a new filing from Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who wants to keep the brothers behind bars.
In a filing late Wednesday, prosecutors urged the court to obtain a copy of a recently completed risk assessment conducted on the brothers by the California Board of Parole Hearings at the request of Gov. Gavin Newsom. The filing by the district attorney’s office urged the judge to delay the sentencing if the court couldn’t get a copy of the report in time for the hearing.
Outside the courthouse Thursday morning, Hochman said he wants all of the facts to come out, but added that his team is proceeding with the hearing.
The Menendez brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, called the last-minute attempt to delay the resentencing hearing a “Hail Mary” by Hochman.
The brothers — who are serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez — are fighting to be released after 35 years behind bars.
At the resentencing hearing — which begins Thursday and is likely to last through late Friday — 10 family members are ready to take the stand, ABC News has learned. A prison expert and former inmate may also testify.
This comes one week after Lyle and Erik Menendez had a major win in court when the judge ruled in their favor at a hearing regarding Hochman’s motion to withdraw the resentencing petition submitted by the previous DA, George Gascón, who supported resentencing and the brothers’ release.
In the DA’s three-hour argument Friday, he argued the brothers — who were listening to the hearing via video — haven’t taken responsibility for their actions and he called their claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.” Hochman also dismissed the brothers’ claim that they were sexually abused by their father.
This comes one week after Lyle and Erik Menendez had a major win in court when the judge ruled in their favor at a hearing regarding Hochman’s motion to withdraw the resentencing petition submitted by the previous DA, George Gascón, who supported resentencing and the brothers’ release.
In the DA’s three-hour argument Friday, he argued the brothers — who were listening to the hearing via video — haven’t taken responsibility for their actions and he called their claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.” Hochman also dismissed the brothers’ claim that they were sexually abused by their father.
Geragos called the decision “probably the biggest day since they’ve been in custody.”
“They’ve waited a long time to get some justice,” he said.
Hochman said in a statement after the ruling, “We concluded that the case was not ripe for resentencing based on the Menendez brothers’ continuing failure to exhibit full insight and accept complete responsibility for the entire gamut of their criminal actions and cover-up, including the fabrications of their self-defense defense and their lies concerning their father being a violent rapist, their mother being a poisoner, and their trying to obtain a handgun for self-defense the day before the murder.”
“Until the Menendez brothers finally come clean with all their lies of self-defense and suborning and attempting to suborn perjury, they are not rehabilitated and pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety,” he said.
This potential path to freedom gained momentum in October, when Hochman’s predecessor, Gascón, announced he was in support of resentencing.
Gascón recommended their sentences of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and said they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately with the new sentence.
Gascón’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón — who lost his reelection bid to Hochman in November — praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.
Over 20 Menendez relatives are in support of the brothers’ release. Several of those relatives spoke with ABC News last week, including cousin Diane VanderMolen, who said Erik Menendez asked her to relay a message.
“They are truly, deeply sorry for what they did. And they are profoundly remorseful,” VanderMolen said. “They are filled with remorse over what they did. And through that, they have become pretty remarkable people.”
Besides resentencing, the brothers have two other possible paths to freedom.
One is their request for clemency to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom announced in February that he was ordering the parole board to conduct a 90-day “comprehensive risk assessment” investigation into whether Lyle and Erik Menendez pose “an unreasonable risk to the public” if they’re granted clemency and released.
After the risk assessment, which Hochman said in the filing is now complete, Newsom said the brothers will appear at independent parole board hearings in June.
The other path is the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which they filed in 2023 for a review of two new pieces of evidence not presented at trial: a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse from his father, and allegations from a former boy band member who revealed in 2023 that he was raped by Jose Menendez.
In February, Hochman announced he was asking the court to deny the habeas corpus petition, arguing the brothers’ new evidence wasn’t credible or admissible.
(LOS ANGELES) — Authorities are searching for the man who broke into a Los Angeles-area house and gunned down a father while his wife and son were home, officials said.
The 61-year-old victim was attacked at about 6:26 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Arcadia, about 8 miles east of Pasadena, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said.
The 13-year-old son and his mother were pulling into their driveway when the intruder “approached them and forced them into the home” where there was a “confrontation” between the intruder and the father, sheriff’s Lt. Steven De Jong told Los Angeles ABC station KABC.
It’s not clear if the boy and his mom witnessed the shooting, but De Jong called it a “very frightening situation for the entire family.”
The 13-year-old son called 911 to report that his dad was shot by an intruder, De Jong said.
A motive is not known, but De Jong said “it appears that this is possibly personally motivated, from my preliminary inspection of the crime scene.”
“This individual that made entry into the house engaged the male victim,” he explained. “So it appears that maybe he was the intended target.”
A “couple” weapons were recovered at the house, but it’s not clear if they belonged to the suspect or the family, he said.
It’s possible the dad “armed himself and attempted to defend himself,” De Jong said.
No arrests have been made, according to the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s homicide bureau at 323-890-5500.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is preparing for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to begin working with the agency to identify “cost-cutting” measures, with Attorney General Pam Bondi this week establishing an internal DOJ team to help facilitate the review of the nation’s top law enforcement divisions, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
In an email to DOJ division leaders on Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Jolene Ann Lauria announced the formation of a “JUST DOGE” team, which will work with White House officials and “DOGE counterparts” to identify “savings and cost-cutting measures” within the department, according to a copy of the email reviewed by ABC News.
The “JUST DOGE” team, formed earlier this week by the attorney general, is solely made up of senior DOJ officials, including “co-leads” AAG Lauria, Associate Deputy Attorney General James McHenry, Counselor to the Attorney General Sean Day and Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General Vetan Kapoor.
According to the email, the new team will oversee the internal budget reviews and identify potential efficiencies at the Justice Department — efforts that Musk’s own DOGE personnel have spearheaded at other federal agencies.
“The JUST-DOGE team will lead directed reviews and identify cost savings and other potential efficiencies in DOJ’s budget,” the email read.
A Justice Department spokesperson told ABC News, “President Trump and Elon Musk are doing historic work to identify and eliminate wasteful spending on behalf of American taxpayers, and JUST DOGE will advance this mission at the DOJ in order to ensure the Department’s resources are best utilized to Make America Safe Again.”
Besides leadership, key roles on the “JUST DOGE” team include Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael J. Williams, who will oversee human resources; DAAG William N. Taylor II, who will be responsible for management and procurement; DAAG Christopher C. Alvarez, who will lead financial management and budgeting; and DAAG Meunda Rogers, who will head data and IT, according to the email.
The formation of the team has stirred unease among some DOJ officials who worry that Musk’s DOGE operatives could move aggressively to slash department personnel and programs, sources told ABC News. Meanwhile, others see the creation of the “JUST DOGE” team, which is composed entirely of current DOJ staff, as an attempt by department leadership to maintain control over the review process and create a buffer against Musk’s team, which has been granted broad access and power at other agencies.
Several of Musk’s DOGE representatives have been seen inside Justice Department offices in recent days, heightening concerns that the DOJ — the agency responsible for enforcing federal law — could become the next major target of Musk’s cost-cutting push.
Musk, who sources tell ABC News has been in direct contact with Bondi since joining the administration, previously joked in an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan about Biondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files in February, when she ruffled feathers in the White House by trumpeting the release of a binder of materials that contained almost no new information. Musk, who at times in the interview defended Bondi, also called the move by the attorney general “disappointing.”
