Skip to content Skip to Content

Former judge and wife taken into custody

0:00/ 0:00LIVEQualityAuto  AudioSubtitleSpeedNormal  

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Former Magistrate Court judge Joel Cano and his wife Nancy were taken into custody earlier today on charges of evidence tampering.

They were arrested after a warrant was executed on their property. In February, Homeland Security Las Cruces executed a search warrant on their property and arrested three men who they claim entered the U.S illegally and are suspected Tren de Aragua gang members.

Cano and his wife housed the three men in their backyard casita from April 2024 to February 2025. In a letter sent to the New Mexico Supreme Court, Cano claims he had no knowledge of any affiliation that the men had with TDA until the first raid on their property in February.

Cano says that the three men had paperwork that was given to them by ICE when they entered the country in late 2023. Each of the three entered the country at separate points and had their cases handled by three separate ICE agents. Cano claims that they could have been arrested at multiple points over the past 16 months with the amount of interactions with the government that they've had.

Special Agent in Charge Jason T. Stevens said that the two will be arraigned on the charges of evidence tampering, but will investigate more to see if they add on more charges.

"They're going to be taken to the Homeland Security Investigations office here in Las Cruces, where they will be interviewed further and potentially other charges could be determined from those interviews."

Article Topic Follows: New Mexico

Jump to comments ↓

Author Profile Photo

Rishi Oza

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

KVIA ABC 7 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.