A former El Paso County judge, set to surrender next month on charges from a high-profile public corruption investigation, has been arrested by Doña Ana County Sheriff’s investigators and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.
Anthony Cobos, 46, was taken into custody at 8:05 a.m. Friday at his home in the 4000 block of Emory in El Paso.
Cobos was scheduled to surrender to federal authorities in Colorado on Feb. 11.
The Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Cobos after a Chaparral couple, who claimed to have bought some land and a mobile home in Chaparral from Cobos, was notified that the mortgage holder was foreclosing on the property.
Further investigation revealed that Cobos was never the legal lien holder of the property, which reportedly belonged to his stepmother, who is deceased.
The couple allegedly entered into a residential lease purchase agreement with Cobos in August 2009, making monthly payments to Cobos in the amount of $506. The terms of the contract also included annual lump sum payments to Cobos.
Altogether, the monthly installments and lump sum payments totaled $43,290.26.
In June 2013 the couple was given notice by the mortgage company that the last payment made on the property was in November 2012, although the couple reportedly had been paying Cobos during that time period.
The couple had also reportedly paid Cobos seven additional payments after the loan went into default.
Doña Ana County Sheriff’s investigators have obtained receipts from the couple that detail each payment made to Cobos.
On Jan. 31, sheriff’s investigators filed a criminal complaint against Cobos, charging him with second-degree fraud (over $20,000).
Cobos waived extradition Friday and is scheduled to be transported to the Doña Ana County Detention Center, where he will be held on a $50,000 cash-only bond.