A Boston, Massachusetts, judge accused of trying to help an illegal immigrant avoid arrest by ICE apparently had no idea about the escape plan, and only inadvertently assisted in its execution, a state investigation has concluded.
Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph did let the illegal immigrant leave her courtroom and go back to the courthouse’s lock-up area, where the migrant’s lawyer and a court officer worked together to get the person out of the building.
But Hearing Officer Denis J. McInerney’s investigation discovered that Judge Joseph didn’t know about such intentions. She only let the migrant go back to jail because she assumed he needed to talk to his counsel in private.
An interpreter and a lawyer present made assertions to the contrary, which McInerney explicitly rejected as untrustworthy.
Instead, he believed what Judge Joseph and another counsel said, which was that the judge never heard of the escape plan.
Even still, McInerney said that Judge Joseph should be publicly reprimanded for holding an off-the-record sidebar meeting, which went against the rules and made people think she was aiding the migrant escape.
“I find that Judge Joseph did not know about — much less authorize — the escape plan and did not mislead court authorities following the incident. However, I find that she inadvertently created the appearance of impropriety and bias,” McInerney concluded.
Medina-Perez, who is forbidden from reentering the United States until 2027, appeared in court on drug possession charges and a fugitive warrant from Pennsylvania. An ICE agent was waiting outside the courthouse to take him into custody.
At the conduct review hearing, Judge Joseph’s counsel emphasized that her client had not been proven 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,” the attorney representing her stated in her opening remarks. “Fifty percent of them would say she’s a criminal and should go to jail. Fifty percent would call her a folk hero for what she gave. But she definitely 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,” the attorney for her said.
David Jellinek, Medina-Perez’s attorney, signed an immunity agreement with federal officials in exchange for his testimony against Joseph.
Federal prosecutors claimed that Joseph instructed a court clerk to inform the ICE agent present to wait in the lobby, implying that if the defendant was released, he would exit through the courtroom entrance into the lobby.
Later, Joseph reportedly instructed the courtroom clerk to “go off the record for a moment,” resulting in the courtroom audio recording being turned off for 52 seconds.
WWhen the audio record was resumed, Joseph announced that she would free the defendant. Federal prosecutors said in court documents that Medina-Perez’s defense counsel requested to meet with the defendant downstairs, to which Joseph replied, “That’s great. “Of course.”
When the clerk informed the judge that an ICE officer was at the courthouse awaiting the defendant’s release, Joseph allegedly replied, “That’s OK.” I will not allow them to enter here. B”But he has been released regarding this matter,” according to court records.
Prosecutors also stated that MacGregor led the defendant, his attorney, and an interpreter down to the courthouse prison. He then used his security access card to unlock the rear sally-port door, allowing the defendant to escape unnoticed.
The Justice Department decided to remove Joseph’s charges in September 2022 after she reported herself to the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC) and confessed to key facts about the case.
The Massachusetts CJC filed official accusations against Joseph, accusing him of “willful judicial misconduct” and behavior “prejudicial to the administration of justice.”
