A former magistrate judge in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, and his wife are accused of tampering with evidence related to the arrest of an undocumented migrant suspected of belonging to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, according to two criminal complaints filed on Friday.

Former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Jose Luis Cano (also known as Joel Cano) is facing a federal charge of tampering with evidence, while his wife, Nancy Cano, is accused with conspiracy to tamper with evidence, according to court records. CNN has contacted their lawyers for comment.

According to court documents, the migrant, Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, is from Venezuela and was accused earlier this year with unauthorised possession of a firearm or ammunition.

Homeland Security Investigations initiated an investigation into Ortega-Lopez in January after receiving an anonymous tip accusing him of living with other undocumented migrants at Nancy and Jose Cano’s Las Cruces house and possessing firearms, according to the accusations.

US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Fox News on Friday that officials received information that the migrant had been staying with the judge. “This is the last person we want in our country, nor will we ever tolerate a judge or anyone else harbouring them,” she told the audience.

According to the lawsuit, Ortega-Lopez posted images and videos on Facebook of himself at a shooting range in Las Cruces while holding handguns or assault-style rifles.

According to the criminal complaint, investigators found tattoos, clothing, and hand gestures “commonly associated” with Tren de Aragua in images and videos posted online by Ortega-Lopez, which “provide(s) strong evidence of Cristhian Ortega’s potential connection” to the gang.

Tren de Aragua is a criminal gang that began in a Venezuelan prison and is now based in the United States. The gang has been tied to human trafficking and other crimes against migrants, as well as money laundering, drug smuggling, kidnapping, and extortion, according to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control.

The former judge vehemently denied any wrongdoing and claimed he had no prior knowledge of Ortega-Lopez’s alleged ties to the Tren de Aragua gang or the two other men who were associated with him, defending his decision to allow the men to remain on his property, according to CNN affiliate KOAT, citing a 23-page letter previously submitted to the New Mexico Supreme Court.

“Let me be as crystal clear as possible,” Jose Luis Cano wrote, according to KOAT. “The very first time I ever heard that (the men) 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.”

On February 28, two search warrants were executed, one of which was at the Canos’ home, and Ortega-Lopez was arrested and charged, according to the accusations. According to the allegations, investigators discovered three cell phones belonging to Ortega-Lopez at the Canos’ home, as well as four weapons at a second location that was searched.

According to the records, authorities suspected Ortega-Lopez had another cell phone after he made a phone call during his arrest. On April 22, investigators asked for any “recorded jail calls, messages, videos, and deposits pertaining to Ortega.”

They discovered two video chats between Nancy Cano and Ortega-Lopez that revealed a fourth phone and the two discussed ways to potentially remove Ortega-Lopez’s Facebook profiles, according to the complaint against Nancy Cano.

According to the complaint, this prompted investigators to execute a warrant at the Cano property on Thursday in search of another phone belonging by Ortega-Lopez and one owned by Nancy Cano.

During the search, Jose Luis Cano agreed to speak with investigators and stated that he destroyed Ortega-Lopez’s phone “by smashing it with a hammer and discard(ing) the remaining pieces in the city trash dumpster approximately five weeks ago,” and that he believed the phone “contained photos or videos that would reflect negatively” on Ortega-Lopez, according to the complaint against him.

When questioned further, Jose Luis Cano claimed he destroyed the phone because he thought it had images of Ortega-Lopez handling firearms, according to the lawsuit.

CNN has contacted ICE and the US Attorney General’s Office for additional information on the case.

The arrests of Jose Luis and Nancy Cano come after the former judge resigned in March, according to court documents. According to the documents, Joel Cano was ordered by the New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday to never hold or run for a New Mexico judicial office again.