A former New Mexico judge was arrested by federal Homeland Security Investigations agents Thursday and accused of tampering with evidence in a case against a man suspected to be a member of the Tren de Aragua gang, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday.
The complaint alleges Joel Cano, a former Doña Ana County Division 6 magistrate, destroyed evidence in a federal investigation into the Venezuelan man accused of being in the United States illegally and residing in a back house on property owned by the judge and his wife in Las Cruces.
His arrest came a day before the FBI arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, alleging she obstructed federal authorities seeking to detain an undocumented immigrant by escorting him through a nonpublic jury door at her courthouse. A statement issued on the judge's behalf said that she “will defend herself vigorously, and looks forward to being exonerated,” the statement said.
On Friday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi linked the two cases under the Trump administration’s mission of zero tolerance for those who come to the United States illegally and any judges believed to be helping them.
“We’re sending a very strong message today,” Bondi said on Fox News. “If you are harboring a fugitive, we don’t care who you are, if you are helping hide one, if you are giving a TdA member guns, anyone who is illegally in this country, we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you.”
The recently resigned New Mexico judge gave notice earlier this spring days after federal agents conducted a search on his property. His last day on the bench was March 21.
An application to search the back house in late February alleges that in addition to the suspected gang member, two other Venezuelans in the country illegally lived there and that the Canos’ adult daughter lives on the property.
Federal officials have accused the judge of destroying a cellphone said to belong to suspected gang member Cristhian Adrian Ortega-Lopez.
In a criminal complaint, the officials said that the judge destroyed the phone with a hammer and that the device was being sought because it may have contained photographs showing Ortega-Lopez possessing weapons, some of which allegedly belonged to Cano, his wife and their daughter.
A separate federal complaint against Ortega-Lopez, which accuses him of illegally possessing a firearm, states that an anonymous tipster accused him of being a member of TdA and that his tattoos support the allegation. The anonymous tip inspired the investigation, according to the complaint.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization in February.
The judge’s wife, Nancy Cano, was charged Friday with conspiracy to tamper with evidence. The criminal complaint alleges that she told Ortega-Lopez to delete his Facebook account where he had posted photos with weapons allegedly owned by the judge, his wife, or their daughter.
It’s not clear if the Canos have an attorney for the matter. Two phone numbers associated with their address, including one for a firm called Cano Insurance, were out of order. It also wasn’t clear if Ortega-Lopez has a lawyer. The federal public defender’s office in New Mexico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In March, a judge ordered Ortega-Lopez be released on bail and into the “third party custody” of Nancy Cano. The federal government later successfully argued that he be kept locked up after prosecutors said his cellphone had images of a decapitated body and Ortega-Lopez associating with known TdA gang members, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Joel Cano was booked into Doña Ana County Detention Center Thursday with no bond listed, according to inmate records. Nancy Cano was booked about a half-hour earlier under no bond conditions, too, the records state.
