US Attorney General Releases Details on New Mexico Judge’s Arrest

Court papers stated that suspected gang member Cristhian Ortega-Lopez was living in a building on the judge’s property when the illegal immigrant was arrested.

Joel Cano in a booking photo on April 24, 2025. Dona Ana County Detention Center

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday provided more details about a former New Mexico judge’s arrest the previous day for allegedly allowing an illegal immigrant and suspected Tren de Aragua gang member to live at his residence.

Former New Mexico Magistrate Judge Joel Cano and his wife, who were arrested Thursday, are now facing charges, Bondi told Fox News on Friday. Inmate booking reports released by the Doña Ana County Detention Center show that Cano and his wife face charges of evidence tampering.

“This is the last person we want in our country, nor will we ever tolerate a judge or anyone else harboring them,” Bondi said of the suspected gang member and Cano.

Court papers filed earlier this month by federal prosecutors in the case involving the suspected gang member, Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, stated that he was living in a building on the Canos’s property in Las Cruces, New Mexico, when he and several other illegal immigrants were arrested.

In Friday’s interview, the attorney general said that Cano took the Tren de Aragua member’s cell phones and “beat it with a hammer, destroyed it, and then [took] the pieces to a city dumpster to dispose of it to protect him.”

Bondi added that Ortega-Lopez showed signs of being in a gang or affiliated with criminal activity, including a necklace that said “kill” and that said “something about death.” He also had pictures on his cellphone of “two decapitated victims” and was “sending them out” to other individuals, the attorney general added.

Cano’s wife, Nancy Cano, is also charged with destroying evidence, Bondi said, adding that the Canos “gave [Ortega-Lopez] assault rifles that belonged to their daughter.”

Ortega-Lopez and other known Tren de Aragua members then went to a shooting range with suppressors and were shooting, she said.

The Canos “were allegedly giving him assault rifles, AK-47s, AR-15s with a suppresser, a known [Tren de Aragua] member, letting him go to a shooting range to refine and perfect his shooting skills,” Bondi said elsewhere in the interview. “What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me.”

In a statement issued in March, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Ortega-Lopez is an illegal immigrant and that it suspected him of being a member of the Venezuelan gang, noting that he was arrested on firearms charges. He is believed to have entered the United States illegally on Dec. 15, 2023, and was later released pending removal proceedings.

Court documents filed in April said that Ortega-Lopez was hired by Nancy Cano to “install a glass door for her” and that he “continued to do a few jobs” for her after being evicted from an apartment in April 2024, at which point she offered him a place to stay at the back of the residence she shared with her husband.

The New Mexico Supreme Court, meanwhile, issued an order earlier this week banning Cano from being a member of the state judiciary in any capacity, including officiating at weddings. The now-former judge “shall never again hold, become a candidate for, run for, or stand for election to any New Mexico judicial office in the future,” the ruling said.

In March, Cano submitted his letter of resignation, which said that his last day on the bench was March 21.

While speaking to a local media outlet on Thursday, Cano defended his decision to allow the illegal immigrant to stay in his home. He also said he would never put his family at risk if he thought there would be any danger.

“Their papers stated in the upper right-hand corner, ‘This Person is Not Subject to Removal.’ They each had a specific court date regarding their asylum hearing,” Cano told KOAT-TV. “I have three grandkids that I love dearly. Their ages are 15, 8, and 6. There is no way in the world that I would have allowed my grandkids to have any contact with the boys if I had sensed danger.”

Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and Mexican drug cartels were declared terrorist organizations by the government in February.

The Epoch Times has contacted an email account that appears to be associated with Cano for comment.

Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.