Feds arrest former New Mexico judge and wife for alleged evidence tampering in immigration case

Jose Luis “Joel” Cano and Nancy Cano. (Photos courtesy of the Doña Ana County Detention Center)

Federal authorities arrested a former New Mexico magistrate judge and his wife on April 24 on criminal charges of evidence tampering related to the prosecution of an alleged gang member from Venezuela.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday announced it had charged former Doña Ana County Magistrate Jose Luis “Joel” Cano with one count of evidence tampering and his wife Nancy Cano with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence.

Prosecutors allege that Jose Cano told Homeland Security Investigations agents that he had destroyed a cell phone belonging to Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, a Venezuelan national prosecutors allege has ties to the Tren de Aragua gang.

HSI in February searched the Canos’ home and arrested Ortega-Lopez for illegal possession of guns and ammunition, according to the DOJ’s news release. The DOJ said agents seized three of Ortega-Lopez’s cell phones, but he told them about a fourth one, which prompted another search wherein Cano allegedly admitted to destroying it with a hammer.

“Judges are responsible for upholding our country’s laws. It is beyond egregious for a former judge and his wife to engage in evidence tampering on behalf of a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member accused of illegally possessing firearms,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison for the District of New Mexico said in a statement. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to dismantling this foreign terrorist organization by disrupting its criminal operations in New Mexico. That starts by prosecuting those who support gang members — including judges.”

The DOJ announced the charges against the Canos in the same news release in which they announced the arrest of a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah C. Dugan for allegedly allowing a Mexican immigrant charged with domestic violence to temporarily avoid arrest by federal agents.

“The allegations against Judge Dugan and Judge Cano are serious: no one, least of all a judge, should obstruct law enforcement operations,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “Doing so imperils the safety of our law enforcement officers and undermines the rule of law. The Department of Justice will continue to follow the facts — no one is above the law.”

In the New Mexico case, immigration authorities arrested Ortega-Lopez in December 2023 in Texas for unlawfully entering the U.S., and released him in April 2024 because of overcrowding at the detention center where he was being held, according to court records.

An anonymous source in January tipped off the Homeland Security Investigations office in Las Cruces that Ortega-Lopez and two others were living in an apartment behind the Canos’ home, an HSI special agent wrote in an application for a search warrant.

The Judicial Standards Commission on March 5 petitioned the Supreme Court to suspend Cano for allegedly committing misconduct by allowing three members of the gang to live on his property in Las Cruces and to have access to firearms.

In a response, Jose Cano wrote to the Supreme Court justices that Ortega-Lopez told Nancy Cano that the trio “all had their legal papers to remain in the U.S. pending their Asylum Court hearings, which were already scheduled,” and that he had verified their court dates.

Jose Cano resigned as a magistrate judge on March 21, according to court records. The New Mexico Supreme Court on April 22 barred Cano from holding any judicial office or exercising any judicial authority. 

Both Canos are scheduled for preliminary and detention hearings Tuesday morning in federal court in Las Cruces.

Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: info@sourcenm.com.

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