A Boston judge accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2018 is set to face a misconduct hearing on Monday
Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph is facing a civil misconduct charge related to the incident, in which she allegedly assisted Jose Medina-Perez, a Dominican national who had been deported twice, in leaving Newton District Court without being detected.
Medina-Perez, who was barred from re-entering the U.S. until 2027, was in court on drug possession charges and a fugitive warrant from Pennsylvania. An ICE agent had been waiting at the courthouse to take him into custody, Fox News reported.
Joseph is appearing Monday before the Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, where the misconduct hearing is currently underway. Presiding Judge Denis McInerney stated he will issue a report outlining his findings and recommendations once the proceedings have concluded.
At the beginning of the hearing, Joseph’s attorney stressed that her client had not been found guilty of any crime.
“If you were to walk down the street and take a survey of the people you meet, 100% of them would tell you Judge Joseph let an illegal immigrant out the back door of the district court,” her counsel said in an opening statement. “Fifty percent of them would tell you that she’s a criminal, and she should go to jail. Fifty percent would tell you she’s a folk hero for what she gave. But 100% would tell you she did it.
“It has become such a part of local lore in Boston that the media, for the most part, have dropped the niceties of alleged or charged, and they report and make references to this incident as if a dozen people had seen Judge Joseph get off the bench, escorted the defendant to the door, gave him a hug and wished him Godspeed,” her counsel continued.
Medina-Perez’s attorney, David Jellinek, has also testified during cross-examination. He made an immunity deal with federal authorities to testify against Joseph, Fox noted.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Joseph directed a court clerk to inform the ICE agent present to wait in the lobby, claiming that if the defendant were released, he would exit through the courtroom door into the lobby. Later, Joseph allegedly instructed the courtroom clerk to “go off the record for a moment,” resulting in the courtroom audio recorder being turned off for 52 seconds.
Once the audio record was back on, Joseph said she was going to release the defendant. Federal prosecutors argued in court papers that Medina-Perez’s defense attorney had asked to speak with the defendant downstairs and Joseph responded, “That’s fine. Of course.”
When the judge was reminded by the clerk that an ICE officer was in the courthouse awaiting the defendant’s release, Joseph allegedly stated, “That’s fine. I’m not gonna allow them to come in here. But he’s been released on this,” according to court documents.
Prosecutors also alleged that MacGregor escorted the defendant, along with his attorney and an interpreter, downstairs to the courthouse lockup. He then used his security access card to open the rear sally-port door, allowing the defendant to leave undetected.
The Justice Department agreed to drop the charges against Joseph in September 2022 after she referred herself to the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC) and admitted to certain facts related to the case, Fox said.
The Massachusetts CJC filed formal charges accusing Joseph of “willful judicial misconduct” and conduct “prejudicial to the administration of justice.”
The Trump Justice Department has also charged two other judges with allegedly harboring illegal migrants or assisting them in evading arrest by federal immigration authorities.
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested in May for attempting to shield Eduardo Flores-Ruiz from arrest, while former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano and his wife, Nancy Cano, of New Mexico, were charged with harboring an illegal alien suspected of being a member of a terrorist-designated gang.
