Judge Hannah Dugan is a big step closer to a trial on the charges that she helped a wanted, illegal immigrant escape from her courtroom.

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss the charges against Dugan.

Judge Lynn Adelman shot down Dugan’s defense that she cannot be prosecuted because she is a Milwaukee County judge.

“There is no basis for granting immunity simply because some of the allegations in the indictment describe conduct that could be considered ‘part of the judge’s job,'” Adelman wrote in his ruling. “As the magistrate judge noted, the same is true in the bribery prosecutions, concededly valid, where the judges were prosecuted for performing official acts intertwined with bribery.”

Dugan’s legal team argued that Dugan was within her power as a judge to pause the hearing against Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was charged with beating his roommate, and directing him out of the side door of her courtroom.

Dugan was also caught on courthouse security cameras directing two ICE agents away from her courtroom. A third ICE agent, however, was waiting and spotted Flores-Ruiz before he could make it out of the courthouse.

The case made national headlines in April, and the Justice Department filed formal charges against Dugan in May.

Dugan was indicted on obstruction charges, and is looking at up to six years in prison if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty.

Dugan was originally supposed to go to trial in July, but that was put on hold while Judge Adelman weighed the motion to dismiss. On Tuesday, Adelman set a hearing date for September, but that could be delayed if Dugan’s lawyers appeal the latest ruling.

This is the second time a federal judge has said Dugan should go to trial in the case. A federal magistrate judge also argued against dismissing the charges in a ruling in early July.

This article was originally published with The MacIver Institute.