Former Judge Joel Cano submitted his resignation earlier this month.
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday barred a former judge from exercising judicial authority in the state in the future amid reports and court papers stating that an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member was arrested living in a building behind his home on his property.
On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court ruled that the former Dona County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano, who submitted a letter of resignation last month, “shall never again hold, become a candidate for, run for, or stand for election to any New Mexico judicial office in the future.”
It also said that he can never serve or be appointed to a pro tempore position “for any New Mexico judicial office in the future,” which entails positions including municipal, probate, metropolitan, magistrate, district court, appeals court, or Supreme Court judgeships.
“Respondent shall never again hold or exercise any judicial authority in the State of New Mexico,” which also includes “officiating at weddings,” said the court order, which also vacated an oral hearing that was scheduled for Thursday.
Cano, a registered Democrat, had served in the Dona Ana County Magistrate Court in Las Cruces, the second-most populous city in the state and located 40 miles north of the U.S.–Mexico border. A resignation letter uploaded online, dated March 3, said that his last day on the bench was March 21.
“Working with each of you has been a very rewarding experience for which I will remain eternally grateful,” he wrote. “All the best to everyone of you. I wish all of you a happy retirement once you are ready yourself.”
Neither the letter of resignation nor the Supreme Court papers said why he was leaving his position or why he was barred from being a judge in the state.
Court papers filed by federal prosecutors earlier in April, which sought to block the release of Venezuelan illegal immigrant and accused Tren de Aragua member Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, included the names Joel and Nancy Cano and said the suspect was living in their Las Cruces home at the time of the arrest. However, the papers did not provide an age, occupation, or other details about the Canos.
