Federal judge mulls detention for man arrested at former judge's home

LAS CRUCES — Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, the Venezuelan man arrested on a federal weapons charge at the home of a former county judge, appeared in court Wednesday for a new detention hearing even though he is not asking to be released.

Ortega-Lopez, 23, has been in custody since Feb. 28, when federal agents executed search warrants at the home of Joel Cano, who was then a sitting Doña Ana County magistrate judge, and his wife, Nancy, as well as the residence next door.

Ortega-Lopez was among three men with pending immigration cases staying in a studio apartment on the Canos’ property. He was charged with being an illegal alien in possession of firearms, but prosecutors have also alleged, in seeking to keep him in jail, that he is a member of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.

Last week, his hosts were themselves arrested and charged with evidence tampering and conspiracy. Joel Cano, who resigned from the bench days after the February raid, allegedly admitted to smashing a mobile phone prosecutors believe belonged to Ortega-Lopez, while Nancy Cano is charged with conspiracy to destroy evidence for allegedly discussing the deletion of Ortega-Lopez’s Facebook account, which prosecutors say holds criminal evidence.

Wednesday’s half-hour proceeding was on a motion filed by prosecutors to reconsider detaining Ortega-Lopez after federal Judge Damian Martinez initially favored setting him free ahead of trial.

Martinez spent most of the hearing questioning Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Ysabel Armijo as to why some evidence produced by the search warrants was not presented at the March detention hearing. The search warrants, subsequently unsealed, included photographs, social media posts and text messages Martinez said might have influenced his decision if he had seen them.

“I can’t help but feel that I was denied the benefit of the government’s evidence at the first hearing,” the judge said, reminding prosecutors that the government was obligated to present evidence establishing grounds for keeping a defendant in custody.

Armijo attributed the delay to a case agent who was “new,” but admitted that she did not offer to call the case agent during the March hearing.

Martinez also questioned the basis for linking tattoos, baseball caps with certain insignia or emojis with Tren de Aragua affiliation. Armijo offered to call an expert witness to speak to the court about those links, but Martinez moved on to other evidence.

As part of President Donald Trump’s push to enact mass deportations, the administration has expelled hundreds of men to a prison in El Salvador under controversial emergency authority, on accusations of Tren de Aragua membership with little or no formal process. Authorities have cited tattoos, social media posts featuring certain hand gestures or emojis, even baseball caps and jewelry as evidence of TdA membership, even though federal agencies have previously cast doubts on such links.

Federal public defenders objected to the hearing, saying they were no longer seeking Ortega-Lopez’s release because Martinez’s proposed conditions could no longer be met. Martinez had initially suggested Nancy Cano could be responsible for him, but that option is off the table since the Canos were released on a $10,000 secured bond and are forbidden from having contact with their former guest.

The other men arrested at the Canos’ studio property are no longer in New Mexico. According to individuals familiar with their cases, one voluntarily returned to Venezuela, while the other is in custody out of state awaiting deportation proceedings.

Martinez adjourned Wednesday’s hearing saying that, as Ortega-Lopez agreed to remain in custody, he would issue an order in a day or two, ending with a comment that a request to hold a defendant in prison while they are on trial “is a decision that I don’t take lightly.”