A woke judge from New Mexico got his just deserts after he was told he could never hold a judicial office again in the wake of the arrest of a suspected Venezuelan gang member and illegal immigrant at the judge’s home, which led the judge to resign in embarrassment.
For context, in an April 22, 2025, order from the New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge Jose “Joel” Cano was told that he can never again be a judicial candidate in the state due to his alleged harboring of a suspected Venezuelan gang member named Christhian Ortega-Lopez, who was arrested in Cano’s home on February 28, 2025.
In addition, according to Fox News coverage of the incident, Judge Cano’s resignation occurred in the wake of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) looking into Ortega-Lopez’s potential involvement with Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang. At the time of the investigation, according to court documents, Ortega-Lopez was “residing with other illegal aliens.”
In the Court Order directed at Judge Cano, Ortega-Lopez, who was described as “an illegal alien from Venezuela and a suspected member of a criminal gang,” was alleged to have been arrested in a home owned by Cano’s wife, Nancy Cano, and shared with his daughter, April Cano. According to the court order, New Mexico police “seized four firearms from April Cano’s residence” during the arrest.
After Ortega-Lopez was arrested, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts told Fox News that Cano “can never hold a judicial office again, be a candidate for a judicial office, and cannot exercise any judicial authority in the state, including officiating at weddings.”
Furthermore, according to press accounts, Cano wrote a resignation letter that specified that his last day as a judge was March 21, 2025. In the letter, the former judge added, “All the best to everyone (sic) of you. I wish you all a happy retirement once you are ready yourself.”
In addition, when investigators came to arrest Ortega-Lopez at the Cano residence, he was reportedly posing with weapons and filming himself on social media. According to a court spokesperson, Ortega-Lopez said that April Cano “allowed him to hold and sometimes shoot various firearms.” Court documents confirmed that Ortega-Lopez was “in possession of firearms” upon his arrest.
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When the X account for The New York Post shared coverage of Judge Cano’s ban from the New Mexico Supreme Court, conservatives couldn’t help but speculate in the comments. A user with the handle Gunther Eagleman simply asked, “What was going on here?” and another commenter chimed in, “How many more American judges on the take? Owned by Venezuela and other Marxist Countries?”
Featured image credit: U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico