US Attorney General Releases Details on New Mexico Judge's Arrest
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
'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
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.
Related Stories
4/25/2025
4/25/2025
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
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,
In March, Cano
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
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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Legal Experts File Complaint Against Pam Bondi, Citing 'Serious' Misconduct, Trump Bias
Roughly 70 law professors, attorneys and justices filed an ethics complaint against Attorney General Pam Bondi with the Florida Bar on Thursday, accusing her of 'serious professional misconduct' and political bias in favor of President Donald Trump. The complaint alleges that the former Florida attorney general has worked to weaponize the Department of Justice by threatening department lawyers with discipline or termination if they fail 'to zealously pursue the President's political objectives.' DOJ lawyers say Bondi and her staff have pressured them into 'violating their ethical obligations' and doing things they are 'ethically forbidden from doing.' This has resulted in 'serious professional misconduct that threatens the rule of law and the administration of justice,' states the complaint, obtained by HuffPost and first reported by the Miami Herald. Francisco Digon-Greer, counsel for the Florida Bar, dismissed the complaint in a letter on Friday, saying the institution does not 'investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office.' 'Such proceedings by The Florida Bar, as an arm of the Florida Supreme Court, could encroach on the authority of the federal government concerning these officials and the exercise of their duties,' his letter read. Dozens of legal experts, including retired Florida Supreme Court justices Barbara J. Pariente and Peggy A. Quince, had signed the complaint, which demanded an investigation and sanctions against Bondi. It was the third complaint the group has filed against Bondi, and the third denied due to her current employment status. Possibly anticipating another rejection, the complaint's authors said Thursday that states are responsible for overseeing who can practice law in their respective jurisdictions and disciplining them. 'The Rules not only require that lawyers who are public officials are accountable for their ethical conduct, but they specifically declare that lawyers who are public officials have a higher duty than other lawyers to maintain ethical standards,' they argued, citing the Florida Bar's rules of professional conduct. 'Nowhere in the Rules or Comments is there an exemption for lawyers who are federal public officials.' The complaint cites 'three glaring examples' as evidence of Bondi's alleged misconduct, including the April firing of immigration lawyer Erez Reuveni. Reuveni was terminated after telling a judge that the government's deportation of migrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to El Salvador was made in 'error.' He was ousted, the complaint states, 'for telling the truth.' It also cites the 'forced resignation' of federal prosecutor Denise Cheung in February after she declined Trump officials' request to open a criminal investigation into a government contractor 'because there was insufficient predication.' The third example is the DOJ's efforts to dismiss New York City Mayor Eric Adams' criminal indictment without prejudice. Nearly a dozen lawyers who objected to the DOJ's proposal, calling it an improper 'quid pro quo,' were either forced to resign or resigned after being placed on administrative leave, the complaint states. A DOJ official dismissed the complaint as meritless to HuffPost. 'The Florida Bar has twice rejected performative attempts by these out-of-state lawyers to weaponize the bar complaint process against AG Bondi,' DOJ chief of staff Chad Mizelle said in a statement. 'This third vexatious attempt will fail to do anything other than prove that the signatories have less intelligence — and independent thoughts — than sheep.' Bondi, a staunch Trump loyalist, served as a special adviser to the president during his first impeachment and supported his efforts to deny his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. During her confirmation hearing in January, she refused to acknowledge his defeat. Since her appointment as the nation's top attorney, Bondi has sided with Trump on every controversial and constitutionally questionable order and has publicly vowed to 'root out' anyone within the DOJ and FBI 'who despise Donald Trump.' Bondi presented herself as an independent prosecutor during her Jan. 15 Senate confirmation hearing, saying that 'politics will not play a part' in deciding whom to investigate and that she would exercise independent judgment. 'Politics has to be taken out of this system,' she said. 'This department has been weaponized for years and years and years, and it has to stop.' Trump on Wednesday ordered Bondi and other federal officials to investigate the Biden administration and his predecessor's health while in office. Pam Bondi Locks Bar Association Out Of Vetting Trump's Judicial Nominees 150 Former Judges Condemn Trump, Tell Pam Bondi They're Not 'Deranged' 'Daily Show' Unloads On Pam Bondi's 'Bulls**t' Trump Claim: 'You Sound High As F**k!' Pam Bondi Rolls Back Protections For Journalists In New DOJ Memo
Miami Herald
41 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
9-year-old shoots and kills younger sister with rifle, AZ cops say. Dad arrested
A 9-year-old boy shot and killed his 5-year-old sister with his dad's AR-style rifle, Arizona police said. Authorities responded to a psychiatric center at 9:10 p.m. June 3, the Phoenix Police Department said in a probable cause statement and news release. The boy found the rifle and fired it at his sister, hitting her in the torso, police said. Their dad told police he was outside the home when he heard 'a loud bang,' police said in the report. He went into the home and found his daughter wounded, police said. The man told authorities he put his rifle on a top shelf in his son's room, police said. He then took his daughter and his girlfriend to the psychiatric center because he saw an ambulance there, police said. The girl was taken to a hospital where she died, police said. Other children were at the home, so the man went back to find the gun still there, police said. Police said they found the rifle and a handgun. The dad has a felony conviction, so he was arrested on a charge of possession of a firearm as a prohibited person.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Oakland Co. sheriff's deputies found loaded weapons at high school graduation in Pontiac
Oakland County sheriff's deputies found multiple fully loaded weapons at a high school graduation in Pontiac on June 3 and believe suspects could have carried out a mass shooting at the event, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a news conference Friday, June 6. Deputies "probably prevented a mass shooting," Bouchard said and are still searching for one suspect, Jamarion Hardiman, 20, of Pontiac. Deputies found multiple weapons around the United Wholesale Mortgage sports complex on South Boulevard where the Arts and Technology Academy of Pontiac graduation was being held. Sheriff's deputies were originally called out after reports of a brawl breaking out, but were told by an individual at the event that rumors of Snapchat threats about a possible shooting were circulating, according to Bouchard. As deputies started to investigate the individuals involved in the fight, they learned they had been seen placing packages under cars at the sports complex's parking lot, and found that those packages were weapons. The weapons found include what Bouchard described as an AR-style pistol and a Glock semi-automatic handgun. Both were loaded with 40-round magazines, Bouchard said. The guns were not registered. "Just those two weapons without changing magazines had 80 rounds of potential firepower shooting into a graduation," Bouchard said. "You can only imagine the outcome of that." One suspect, a 19-year-old Bouchard did not name, is in custody. Another, Hardiman, is still wanted. Neither were graduating students, but had ongoing disputes with others in the school community. Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fully loaded weapons found at high school graduation in Pontiac
