Dem judge in New Mexico steps down after man with alleged Tren de Aragua ties found in his home

nypost.com ^ | April 21, 2025 | Ryan King

[V_TWIN]

A New Mexico judge tendered his resignation last month after immigration authorities detained a suspect with alleged ties to the Tren de Aragua gang in his home during a late February raid.

Federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security raided former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Jose “Joel” Cano’s home on Feb. 28 and arrested 23-year-old Venezuelan national Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, court documents reveal.

Authorities also confiscated four firearms from Cano’s daughter’s residence, after obtaining search warrants in response to social media evidence of Ortega-Lopez’s ties to Tren de Aragua, the ruthless Venezuelan prison gang.

Cano, a Democrat who had served as a judge since 2011, made no mention of the arrest in his resignation letter, which came days later on March 3.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS:

[V_TWIN]

- "During his stay, Ortega-Lopez seemingly began to bond with the judge’s daughter, April Cano, “who possessed a large number of firearms” and let him hold onto some of them, per court records" -

Good grief....SMH

[rlmorel]

Insanity. Just insanity. Look at this raving idiot chumming around with these bastards:

It is as if he has no idea what these people are capable of, or actually do. But he probably does.

[V_TWIN]

He’s lucky the whole family didn’t wake up with their throats cut......and the daughter giving access to firearms......unbelievable.

[griswold3]

Organized crime (mafia, cartels) capture, control the judiciary
Control the judiciary, and you effectively control law enforcement enabling operations

[bray]

Gaydar just exploded.

[i_robot73]

ONLY in govt can one ‘step down’ & avoid any/all follow-thru w/ ANY *HINT* of criminality.

[daku]

Simple, the judge was getting paid

[rlmorel]

Yes. It is apparently a tactic (not just by gangs, but by various illegal entities such as the Mafia) as long as humans have been organized with a judiciary.

Buy off the judges. Then everything goes smoothly for them.

Honestly, I would almost feel better if the judge was getting paid.

Having someone in judgeship with so much stupidity is a little scary, given how much power they have appropriated illegally.

[V_TWIN]

Are you suggesting the judge has a penchant for tamales?

[libertylover]

A New Mexico judge tendered his resignation last month after immigration authorities detained a suspect with alleged ties to the Tren de Aragua gang in his home

That's not enough. He should be charged with harboring a fugitive and possibly obstruction of justice.

[cuz1961]

silver

or

lead.

looks like the judge made a decision ?

[cuz1961]

looks like a ripe RICO investigation opportunity.