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A Massachusetts judge and law officer were accused of helping an undocumented immigrant avoid immigration officers and escape the court.
The two men would have allowed the man to go out the back door of a courthouse while an immigration officer was waiting outside for the # 39; stop.
Judges Shelley Joseph and Wesley MacGregor of the Boston area have been charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
The man was in court for drug charges and for escaping justice.
At their first appearance in court on April 25, Judge Joseph, 51, and Mr. MacGregor, 46, pleaded not guilty and were released.
According to court documents, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officer attended a man's hearing in April 2018 in a district court in Newton, Massachusetts, for the purpose of l & # 39; 39; grasp.
The suspect, unidentified in the court documents, called Jose Medina-Perez, according to local media.
The Dominican Republic national was reportedly expelled from the United States twice in 2003 and 2007, the Boston Globe reported.
Court documents cite an order, issued during his second trip, barring Mr. Medina-Perez from entering the United States until 2027, according to the newspaper.
The suspect's lawyer reportedly told Judge Joseph that he thought Ice had the wrong man.
The indictment describes a subsequent conversation, captured by the clerk, between Judge Joseph and the lawyer regarding the imminent arrest of his client.
"Ice will pick him up?" she would have asked, adding "I will not allow them to come here",
Prosecutors said that Judge Joseph then arranged for Medina-Perez's exit through a back door while the Ice Officer waited for the suspect in the courthouse lobby.
Both Judge Joseph and Mr. MacGregor were charged with one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and two counts of obstructing justice. Mr. MacGregor has also been charged with perjury.
The judge was suspended without pay by the Supreme Court of the State. Mr. MacGregor recently retired from his clerk position last month.
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US Attorney Andrew Lelling said that these charges did not constitute a political statement
US Attorney Andrew Lelling, the country's highest federal prosecutor, said the charges were not a political statement.
"This case is about the rule of law," Lelling said.
"The allegations contained in the indictment of today imply the obstruction of a sitting judge, an intentional interference in the application of the law. federal and a crime. "
But the Attorney General of the Republic, Maura Healey, almost immediately reacted to the accusations and called the indictment "a radical and political attack on our state and the independence of the court".
The Massachusetts Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has described the case as "absurd, ironic and deeply prejudicial to the rule of law".
"This decision seems to have little to do with the real facts and everything to do with the implementation of the president's anti-immigrant program."
The rhetoric accused highlights growing tensions over the administration of President Donald Trump and his crackdown on immigration.
Last month, US officials said the US-Mexico border was at a "breaking point" in the midst of an "unprecedented" increase in the number of migrants.
More on the crisis of American migrants
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