Former Las Cruces judge Cano, wife released on bond
Apr. 29—LAS CRUCES — A federal judge released a former magistrate judge and his wife on $10,000 secured bonds Tuesday but barred them from renting to non-citizens as their cases progress.
Nancy Cano and Joel Cano, a former police officer and Doña Ana County magistrate judge, are charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence and tampering with evidence after federal agents accused them of interfering with a federal investigation.
"It's certainly unusual," Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Ysabel Armijo said about the case during the hearing.
The pair was arrested on April 25 as part of an investigation into three men accused of being involved with the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
Joel Cano, who had served as a magistrate judge since 2011, resigned from the bench in March after federal agents raided his home, as well the home of a family member living next door, on Feb. 28.
The unit was occupied by three men, including Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, 23, who now faces federal firearm charges. Ortega-Lopez was also accused of entering the United States by scaling a barbed-wire fence near Eagle Pass, Texas. He was detained then released by Border Patrol to limit overcrowding at a detention facility, according to court records.
Federal prosecutors said Ortega-Lopez had social media posts and tattoos that linked him to the Tren de Aragua gang. He eventually came into contact with the Canos through handyman work and was invited to stay on their property. In a court filing pertaining to a state judicial inquiry, Joel Cano said that Nancy Cano also provided assistance to the three men in complying with procedures in their pending immigration cases. Jail records show that Ortega-Lopez remains in jail ahead of a detention hearing.
Joel Cano has called the allegations "highly sensationalized and without merit" and said the men investigated by the federal government had become "a meaningful part of our extended family."
According to a criminal complaint, Joel Cano told federal investigators that he smashed a phone federal agents had been seeking with a hammer, while investigators believe that Nancy Cano plotted with Ortega-Lopez to delete a Facebook account. Both were sought as evidence, according to court records.
Armijo did not push for the Canos to be held in jail. Instead, she asked federal Judge Gregory Fouratt to impose conditions of release that barred the husband and wife from residing together. Armijo said she was worried about the two discussing the case together.
"We don't know if there's another phone that could be destroyed," Armijo said.
Fouratt called the proposal form over substance and said the Canos had a constitutional right to be with each other as a married couple.
But Fouratt did inquire about the Canos' wealth, suggesting they were some of the wealthiest defendants he had ever judged, and the couple's rental properties in southern New Mexico.
Nancy Cano told the court that the couple rented eight units in the state, nearly all occupied.
Ultimately, Fouratt imposed a standard array of conditions of release, including no contact with other witnesses or defendants, no new charges and a requirement to stay in Doña Ana County.
"There's no workable way," Fouratt said, referring to a condition that would prevent the couple from speaking to each other. "I'd be setting you up to fail."
Fouratt also said they must turn over their passports to the court and get rid of any guns, something the couple said they already did.
But Fouratt's final condition of release was unique to the couple.
He told them they could not rent to non-citizens or people without permanent residence and that they must provide the court with information about their tenants to prove that they are all U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Fouratt did not explain why this condition was necessary.
The Canos did not oppose this condition. Fouratt's ruling for a secured bond means the couple must pay the bond before leaving jail.
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