"Cano’s resignation from the bench halted any formal disciplinary hearings, but in a 23-page letter submitted to the New Mexico Supreme Court, he denied any wrongdoing and said he was unaware of the men’s alleged gang ties. “Let me be as crystal clear as possible,” Cano wrote. “The very first time I ever heard that the boys could possibly have any association with Tren de Aragua was when I was informed of that by [the] agents on the day of the raid.
Cano referred to the three men repeatedly as “the boys” in his letter and defended his decision to allow them to stay on his property. He said they had previously interacted with Border Patrol and HSI without any issues, and that their immigration paperwork led him to believe they were not subject to removal.
“Their papers stated in the upper right-hand corner, ‘This Person is Not Subject to Removal.’ They each had a specific court date regarding their asylum hearing,” Cano stated.
Weird, seems like I've heard about this arresting people with Court papers saying they're not subject to removal before.
The initial allegations against Ortega-Lopez were due to firearms, and made by the ATF. Cited as evidence are social media posts showing he and Cano "with firearms."
"The Judicial Standards Commission also alleged that Cano provided the men with firearms. In response, Cano denied giving them access to weapons, referencing a family outing to a shooting range."
My favorite part of the allegations that Ortega-Lopez is a gang member list the first two indicators as "clothing" and "tattoos." Welp, Salvadorian gulag for that guy!