A Massachusetts judge is set to face a hearing for helping an illegal migrant slip out of court to avoid ICE agents in 2018 — mirroring the recent arrest of a Wisconsin magistrate in an eerily similar case.
Boston Municipal Court Judge Shelley Joseph will front a public hearing on June 9 over her alleged “willful judicial misconduct” after she allowed the twice-deported migrant to flee before he could be nabbed by immigration officials, the Boston Herald reported.
The hearing before the Commission on Judicial Conduct will replicate an actual trial, which means her lawyers will have the chance to present evidence in her defense.
Joseph is accused of violating the “code of judicial conduct” by “failing to comply with the law.”
She was initially charged by a Trump appointee, former US Attorney Andrew Lelling, for conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice for allegedly helping Jose Medina-Perez, who was facing narcotics charges, leave her court via a back door when ICE showed up with a detainer.
However, the charges were dropped after the judge surrendered, and her case was moved to the commission.
The commission — a state agency that oversees probes into alleged misconduct by those admitted to the bench — filed charges against Joseph later last year.
The update in her case comes after Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested last Friday on charges of helping a Mexican illegal migrant evade the feds in her courtroom.
Dugan, who has been on the Milwaukee County bench for nearly a decade, was accused of obstruction of justice and concealing Eduardo Flores-Ruiz from arrest following a pre-trial hearing earlier this month.
Flores-Ruiz — who illegally reentered the US after being deported in 2013, according to court docs — was taken into custody outside after a foot chase.
Judge Dugan was suspended by the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday as she fights the federal charges.
Dugan’s lawyers said they were disappointed “that the court acted in unilateral fashion.”
“We continue to assert Judge Dugan’s innocence and look forward to her vindication in court,” her legal team said in a statement.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t immediately clear if Joseph, the Boston judge, planned to try and strike a deal before the commission hearing.
Her attorney, Thomas Hoopes, didn’t respond when contacted by the local outlet.
