(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

(CNSNews.com) - A Massachusetts District Court Judge and a court officer face obstruction of justice charges for helping an illegal alien defendant avoid an ICE officer who intended to take him into custody.

Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph, 51, appointed as a Massachusetts District Court Judge in November 2017, and Wesley MacGregor, 56, a trial court Officer since 1993, were indicted on one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and two counts of obstruction of justice (aiding and abetting).

MacGregor also charged with one count of perjury, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. Both have pleaded not guilty.

According to court documents:

On March 30, 2018, Newton Police arrested and charged an alien defendant with being a fugitive from justice in Pennsylvania and narcotics possession. The suspect had twice been deported from the United States, in 2003 and 2007, and was under a federal order to stay out of the country for 20 years.

After learning of the defendant’s arrest, ICE issued a Federal Immigration Detainer and Warrant of Removal, which stated that the defendant was subject to removal from the United States. On April 2, 2018, Newton Police transferred custody of the defendant to Newton District Court, where Judge Joseph was presiding.

At 9:30 a.m. on April 2, 2018, a plainclothes ICE officer arrived at the court to take custody of the defendant following his release from the court's jurisdiction. The officer announced his presence to courthouse personnel, including Judge Joseph, upon arrival. Before the afternoon session, the courtroom clerk -- at Judge Joseph’s direction -- allegedly instructed the ICE officer to leave the courtroom and wait outside in the lobby, stating that if the defendant were released, he would go through the courtroom and into the lobby.

At 2:48 p.m. the defendant's case was called and the proceedings were captured on the courtroom’s audio recorder, as prescribed under the rules for all State District Courts. The audio recording captured Judge Joseph, the defense attorney and the assistant district attorney speaking at side bar about the defendant and the ICE detainer. Judge Joseph then allegedly ordered the courtroom clerk to “go off the record for a moment.”

For the next 52 seconds, the courtroom audio recorder was turned off, in violation of the District Court rules. At 2:51 p.m., the recorder was turned back on, and Judge Joseph indicated her intent to release the defendant. According to the charging documents, the defense attorney asked to speak with the defendant downstairs and Joseph responded, “That’s fine. Of course.”

When reminded by the clerk that an ICE Officer was waiting in the courthouse, Judge Joseph stated, “That’s fine. I’m not gonna allow them to come in here. But he’s been released on this.”

Immediately following the proceeding, trial court officer MacGregor allegedly escorted the defendant, his attorney and an interpreter downstairs to the lockup and used his security access card to open the rear sally-port exit and release the defendant at 3:01 p.m.

“This case is about the rule of law,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “The allegations in today’s indictment involve obstruction by a sitting judge, that is, intentional interference with the enforcement of federal law, and that is a crime. We cannot pick and choose the federal laws we follow, or use our personal views to justify violating the law."

Todd M. Lyons, the acting field office director with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, called the judge's actions "a detriment to the rule of law and highly offensive to the law enforcement officers of ICE who swear an oath to uphold our nation’s immigration laws."

Lyons added that the criminal justice system "must be protected against judicial officials who would seek to replace the implementation of our laws with their own ideological views or politically-driven agenda."

Judge Joseph has been suspended without pay. And press reports said the alien defendant was recaptured about a month after his release and is now in custody of immigration officials.