A Democratic New Mexico judge who had an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member living in his home has been permanently banned from the bench by his colleagues, according to state Supreme Court documents.
Jose “Joel” Cano resigned in March after agents from the US Department of Homeland Security arrested suspected TdA gang member Cristhian Ortega-Lopez at Cano’s home in February.
The discipline makes it so Cano “can never hold a judicial office again, be a candidate for a judicial office, and cannot exercise any judicial authority in the state.”
The ban even prohibits Cano from officiating at weddings in the state.
The discipline, handed down by the Supreme Court of New Mexico, forestalls disciplinary hearings scheduled for Thursday.
Investigators found pictures on social media of Ortega-Lopez, 23, eating dinner with Cano’s family and posing for Christmas pictures in 2024. Cano is wearing a cowboy hat and a bolo tie, Ortega-Lopez is wearing a classic New York Yankees baseball cap and a collared shirt that conceals his neck tattoos, the very tattoos that investigators say reveal his gang affiliation.