Santa Ana, United States. Canadian former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding pleaded not guilty on Monday to 17 felony charges in two U.S. grand jury indictments. A judge ordered him held without bond after his arrest in Mexico City and transfer to the United States in FBI custody.
Court proceedings and custody
Wedding, 44, entered his plea during an arraignment in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California, several days after he was arrested in Mexico City and flown to the United States in FBI custody following years on the run. U.S. Magistrate Judge John Early ordered Wedding to remain in federal custody without bond pending further proceedings.
A status conference was set for February 11, with a preliminary trial date set for March 24.
Allegations of transnational trafficking and violence
Wedding is accused of leading a transnational drug trafficking network in conjunction with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel to transport hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to the United States and Canada.
He was on the FBI’s “Top 10 Most Wanted” list, and the U.S. government had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. After Wedding’s arrest, FBI Director Kash Patel described him as “the largest narco-trafficker in modern times,” comparing him with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Pablo Escobar.
Charges and potential sentence
Wedding, who competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, was charged with 17 counts of various felonies, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to tamper with a witness.
Prosecutors have accused him of ordering several drug-related killings, including the killing of a U.S. government witness in Colombia in January 2025 before the witness could testify against Wedding, the U.S. Justice Department said. If convicted of the most serious charges, Wedding could face a sentence of life in prison.
What will prosecutors present at the February 11 status conference in the case against Ryan Wedding?