United States v. Joseph

rdf:langString United States v. Joseph

rdf:langString United States v. Shelley M. Richmond Joseph and Wesley MacGregor

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rdf:langString See caption

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rdf:langString ICE's Boston field office

rdf:langString Internal email by an official in

rdf:langString Newton is a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts

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rdf:langString Massachusetts courts blatantly and willfully disregard ICE's requests to detain aliens on a daily basis, and cannot be relied upon to honor our requests.

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rdf:langString United States v. Shelley M. Richmond Joseph and Wesley MacGregor (2019) was the federal criminal prosecution of a Massachusetts state court judge (Joseph) and court officer (MacGregor) for helping a state court defendant evade federal immigration authorities by allowing him to leave a court hearing through a rear door of the courthouse.Both are charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, aiding and abetting obstruction of justice, and aiding and abetting obstruction of a federal proceeding;MacGregor is also charged with perjury during grand jury proceedings.Joseph faces 20 years in prison; MacGregor, 30. Both could be fined $250,000. On September 22, 2022, the case concluded with an announcement by federal prosecutors that the obstruction charges against both Joseph and MacGregor would be dismissed and that prosecution of the perjury charge against MacGregor would be deferred. As part of the resolution, Joseph agreed to submit to disciplinary proceedings before the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct. On April 2, 2018, an agent from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrived at the Newton District Court in Newton, Massachusetts in order to detain a suspected undocumented immigrant who was appearing as a defendant that day on state court charges.According to federal prosecutors, Joseph and MacGregor helped the defendant evade detention by allowing him to leave the courthouse through a rear exit while the ICE agent waited in the front lobby. A grand jury investigation began within weeks and on April 25, 2019, Joseph and MacGregor were indicted.Joseph surrendered to authorities and MacGregor was arrested at home. Both pled not guilty and were released without bail.MacGregor retired and Joseph is on administrative leave with pay pending trial. A motion to dismiss filed by Joseph was denied, and as of July 2020, no trial date has been set. Federal prosecutions of state judges are extremely rare in the United States. This was the first prosecution of a sitting Massachusetts judge since 1787, when a judge was prosecuted for helping rebels in Shays' Rebellion. The case came amid escalating tensions between the Trump administration and so-called "sanctuary cities" such as Newton, where local officials openly refused to enforce the administration's immigration policies. Reactions to the prosecution were divided, and the case resulted in legislation and additional lawsuits brought by both supporters and opponents, seeking to loosen or strengthen enforcement of federal immigration laws in local courtrooms.