Ryan Wedding, 44, a one-time Olympic snowboarder for Canada, entered a not guilty plea on Monday in U.S. federal court in Santa Ana, California, to a set of criminal charges alleging he ran a large-scale cocaine trafficking operation and ordered multiple killings.
According to prosecutors, Wedding was arrested in Mexico City on Thursday and subsequently flown to California to face the federal counts. The indictment accuses him of heading a transnational drug trafficking network that worked with Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel to move hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico into the United States and Canada.
The charges listed in Santa Ana include conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to tamper with a witness. Prosecutors also allege Wedding ordered several drug-related murders. Those alleged killings include the slaying of a U.S. federal witness in Colombia in January 2025 before that witness could testify, the department said.
Additional accusations cited in the court filings point to violence in Canada. Prosecutors say Wedding directed the murders of two people and the attempted murder of a third in Ontario in November 2023 in connection with a stolen drug shipment, and ordered the killing of another person in Canada in May 2024 over a drug debt.
U.S. authorities had placed Wedding on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted list and announced a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. If convicted on the most serious counts, prosecutors say, he could face a sentence of life in prison.
This case ties allegations of large-scale international cocaine distribution to specific acts of violence in multiple countries, and the charges now proceed through the federal court system in Santa Ana following his transfer from Mexico. Wedding, who competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, entered his plea as the federal process moves forward.
Contextual notes
- No verdict has been reached; the plea entered in court was not an admission of guilt.
- The allegations span several jurisdictions, including Colombia, Mexico, the United States and Canada.
- Authorities have described the operation as involving the movement of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine.