The U.S. Justice Department said late Friday that former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano smashed a cellphone and his wife, Nancy, plotted to delete a social media account to prevent federal authorities from finding further evidence against a Venezuelan man accused of possession of firearms living on their property.
Federal authorities arrested the Canos late Thursday, April 24th. Joel Cano, 67, was charged with tampering with evidence. Nancy Cano, 68, was charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence.
According to federal authorities, when they arrested Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, 23, a Venezuelan man, for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition in late February at the Canos’ Las Cruces home, authorities seized four firearms believed to be in Ortega-Lopez’s possession, along with three cell phones. During the search, authorities allowed Ortega-Lopez to make a phone call before he was taken to the Doña Ana County Detention Center, according to federal authorities. Ortega-Lopez allegedly told federal agents the phone he wanted to use was not among those recovered.
Video calls from the Doña Ana County Detention Center allegedly showed Nancy Cano in possession of what federal authorities believed to be Ortega-Lopez’s fourth, unrecovered cell phone. On March 7, Nancy Cano made a call through a private messaging platform offering end-to-end encryption for greater security, to a third-party person, named only as “Michelle,” according to the USDOJ. Nancy Cano then used her own cell phone to facilitate a video-call conversation, through another enhanced security platform, between Michelle and Ortega-Lopez, according to federal authorities.
In a separate, April 20th call between Nancy Cano and Ortega-Lopez, Nancy Cano allegedly discussed with him deleting his Facebook account. The DOJ states in a news release that Ortega-Lopez’s Facebook account is the platform he previously used to share incriminating content, including images the federal government says connects Ortega-Lopez to being affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang and images of him holding firearms.
U.S. Homeland Security agents executed a subsequent search warrant at the Cano’s residence on Thursday, April 24th, to locate Ortega-Lopez’s fourth, unrecovered cell phone. During that search, Joel Cano admitted to smashing the cell phone with a hammer five weeks prior because he believed it contained photos and videos of Ortega-Lopez that would incriminate him, according to the DOJ’s statement.
Using forensic analysis, federal authorities say that the recovered phone reveals messages that link Ortega-Lopez’s alleged criminal activities, including affiliations with the Tren de Aragua gang and images of Ortega-Lopez in possession of firearms.
Federal agents arrested and charged Ortega-Lopez in late February with being an unlawful alien in possession of firearms and ammunition. Two other men associated with Ortega-Lopez were also living in the casita and they were also arrested because of an alleged association with Tren de Aragua, according to court documents.
The Cano’s arrests came around a month after Cano resigned in March from his judicial office when he faced disciplinary action from the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission. The New Mexico Supreme Court issued an order last month, in response to the Judicial Standards Commission’s actions, stating that Cano could never hold judicial office again, be a candidate for judicial office or exercise judicial authority, including officiating at a wedding, in New Mexico again.
The case began when the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Homeland Security began investigating three Venezuelan men living in a casita on the Canos’ property in Las Cruces. Federal authorities say they received an anonymous tip that Ortega-Lopez was unlawfully present in the U.S. and that he was in possession of firearms. Homeland Security investigators found that Ortega-Lopez entered the U.S. near Eagle Pass, Texas, and was released due to overcrowding at the Border Patrol facility, according to the USDOJ.
Joel Cano said in a March 21st response letter to the disciplinary action he faced from state court, that Ortega-Lopez and the two other Venezuelan men living with him in the Canos’ casita, were asylum seekers and that all three had asylum hearings with an asylum judge scheduled. Many immigrants seek asylum when crossing the U.S. border due to violence experienced in their home countries.
Cano also argued in his March 21st response letter that the three men had traveled freely through various U.S. security checkpoints and that if they had lacked legal documentation, they would have been arrested at those checkpoints.
According to the USDOJ, multiple photos and video on social media show Ortega-Lopez and other undocumented men handling firearms at a shooting range in Las Cruces. The guns included a Sig Sauer P365 handgun, an AR-15 rifle equipped with a suppressor and other high-powered firearms and ammunition, the USDOJ said in its news release.
The USDOJ also said that tattoos, hand gestures and clothing worn in the photos suggest Ortega-Lopez is affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang. In March President Trump invoked a 1798 law which gives him wartime authority to detain or deport members of an “enemy nation.” In his presidential action, Trump said Tren de Aragua are “infiltrating” the U.S. and “conducting irregular warfare.”
Cano, in his response letter, pushed back on federal authorities’ claims that Ortega-Lopez and the other two Venezuelan men living in Cano’s casita are members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Cano stated that ICE agents had viewed the Venezuelan men’s tattoos when they crossed the border and that the Trump administration is deporting migrants regardless of due process laws.
If convicted of the federal felony charges, the Canos could each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine.
The Canos’ lawyer, William Lutz, did not return a request for comment by press time.
