LAS CRUCES, N.M. — More details have emerged about a case involving a New Mexico judge and alleged gang members which has gained national attention. KOB4 previously reported former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano can never sit on the bench again in our state.

The New Mexico State Supreme Court made that decision after taking a look at two disciplinary cases against him. One of them alleged that Cano let three undocumented immigrants, who are allegedly associated with a Venezuelan gang, stay in his home.

Cano served on the bench since 2011. He just resigned last month, before the state supreme court decided to ban him from holding judicial office. 

In his resignation letter from March, Cano doesn’t give a reason for resigning, but court documents show the letter came just days after Homeland Security raided his Las Cruces home.

A search warrant inventory list showed that the federal agents seized several items from Cano’s house, including six phones, miscellaneous documents and laptops. The search warrant itself revealed the investigation has been in the works for months after the federal agents received an anonymous tip in January.

The source claimed three undocumented Venezuelans were staying in Judge Cano’s home, were working for his family and were given access to firearms.

Those suspects are Cristhian Adrian Ortega-Lopez, Juan Manuel Acevedo-Leon and Efren Jose Montilla-Castillo. Right now, Ortega-Lopez is in jail in Doña Ana County. Acevedo-Leon is in ICE custody in Texas.

The tipster also told the federal agents that the men were associated with the Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua” or TdA. Per an executive order from President Donald Trump, the transnational criminal organization is also considered by the U.S. to be a foreign terrorist organization.

According to court documents, law enforcement was able to verify everything the tipster told them through social media. Evidence showed both Ortega-Lopez and Montilla-Castillo posted photos of themselves with Judge Cano, his wife and his daughter.

One of the posts, a TikTok video, showed Ortega-Lopez dancing and then pulling out a gun, which also violates federal law. The federal agents also said the tattoos, clothing and hand gestures made in the social media posts are associated with the TdA gang.  

The court documents also revealed a lot about Ortega-Lopez, including that he reportedly said he came to the U.S. illegally in 2023 after climbing a barbed wire fence in Texas. He was released a few days later. In April 2024, Ortega-Lopez filed a request for immigration relief. He also allegedly admitted he knew having firearms was illegal.

KOB4 reached out to ICE to learn more about Montilla-Castillo and a fourth suspect, Jhordan Alehandro Santeliz-Lugo, who was listed in the court documents but allegedly wasn’t living in Judge Cano’s home.