A Boston judge is set to face a misconduct hearing over allegations that she assisted an unauthorized immigrant in evading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2018. Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph is accused of helping Jose Medina-Perez, a Dominican national who had previously been deported twice, exit Newton District Court without being detected by federal authorities.
Joseph has been suspended without pay and is barred from returning to the bench until the Supreme Judicial Court issues a final decision. The misconduct hearing is currently underway in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, presided over by Judge Denis McInerney, who will issue a report with findings and recommendations after the proceedings conclude.
Medina-Perez, who is barred from reentering the United States until 2027, appeared in court on drug possession charges and a fugitive warrant from Pennsylvania. ICE agents were waiting outside the courthouse to take him into custody at the time.
At the hearing’s opening, Joseph’s attorney emphasized that no criminal charges have been proven against the judge. “If you were to walk down the street and ask people, 100% would say Judge Joseph let an illegal immigrant out the back door of the district court,” the attorney said, “but opinions differ on whether that makes her a criminal or a folk hero.”
