MILWAUKEE — The FBI on Friday arrested a county circuit judge on Friday, accusing her of helping a man evade immigration authorities.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, 65, was arrested by federal authorities at about 8 a.m. CT. She was charged with felony counts of obstruction for her role in helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom last week, officials confirmed.

According to a social media post by FBI Director Kash Patel, Dugan was arrested on suspicion that she “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from” an immigrant being pursued by federal authorities.

“Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,” Patel wrote. “We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.”

Patel’s post was later deleted.

Dugan appeared briefly in federal court Friday before she was released from custody.

Her next court appearance is May 15.

“Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing.

Mastantuono declined to comment to an Associated Press reporter after her court appearance.

Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican immigrant facing three misdemeanor battery counts, was in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 for a pretrial conference, the newspaper reported, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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