Former New Mexico Judge Joel Cano, Wife Released on Bond

The pair are accused of evidence tampering in a case involving a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member.

Mugshot photos of Nancy Cano (L) and Joel Cano following their arrest on April 24, 2025. Dona Ana County Detention Center

A former New Mexico county judge and his wife were released on $10,000 bonds on Tuesday after they were arrested in connection with federal charges of tampering with evidence in an immigration and gang-related case.

In a Tuesday hearing, Magistrate Judge Gregory Fouratt ordered the release of former Dona Ana County Magistrate Court Judge Joel Cano and his wife after they secured bonds of $10,000 each, according to local reporters who were in the courthouse.

“I want you to have a chance to convince any other judge you see” that their decisions made in connection with the case were outside of their normal “decision-making,” Fouratt said in the hearing.

Cano and his wife, Nancy, were arrested on April 24 on charges of evidence tampering in connection with a federal case against an illegal immigrant suspected of being a Tren de Aragua gang member. Court papers filed earlier this month by federal prosecutors indicated that the man, Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, had lived on their property along with several other alleged illegal immigrants.

In a criminal complaint, prosecutors accused the judge of destroying a phone with a hammer and that the device may have contained photos of Ortega-Lopez possessing weapons, which may have belonged to the judge, his wife, and daughter.

Officials with Homeland Security said in a news release that Ortega-Lopez was a suspected member of Tren de Arauga, which was declared a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department earlier this year.

Nancy Cano was charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence, prosecutors say. A criminal complaint filed in her case accused her of telling Ortega-Lopez to delete his Facebook account where he may have posted photos with weapons.

On Tuesday, Fouratt also ordered that anyone who is a tenant or a guest on their properties must provide proof they are a legal resident of the United States, according to KFOX-TV. The Canos told the judge that they own nine rental properties.

The judge also told the Canos they must provide the court with any address changes, surrender their passports, not associate with Ortega-Lopez, and avoid contact with potential witnesses, according to SourceNM.

Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News 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 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 added in the interview. “What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me.”

The Canos had been in custody at the Dona Ana County Detention Center since April 25, according to the jail’s website. As of Wednesday, they were not listed in the jail’s records.

Around the same time he was arrested, Cano told local media that 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 local news outlet 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.”

The New Mexico Supreme Court last week issued an order barring Cano, who had resigned from his position in March, 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 the case, the Canos have yet to enter pleas for their charges, and it’s not clear whether they have attorneys.