Canadian lawyer advised alleged drug lord ex-Olympian to kill witness to have case dismissed, DOJ says

Canadian cause usurpation defence lawyer Deepak Paradkar was arrested arsenic portion of the FBI's sweeping crackdown connected erstwhile Olympian Ryan Wedding, the FBI and DOJ announced Wednesday. 

Wedding, a erstwhile Olympic snowboarder for Team Canada, is inactive astatine ample connected aggregate charges, including execution successful transportation with a continuing transgression endeavor and cause crime, tampering with a witness, victim, oregon informant, and retaliation against a witness, victim, oregon informant.

Paradkar was described arsenic Wedding’s lawyer astatine the property league by U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. Essayli besides claimed that Paradkar advised Wedding to person a witnesser killed successful effort to person a lawsuit dismissed. 

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An adjutant displays a wanted poster during a quality league announcing the indictment of a erstwhile Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, charging him with execution and wealth laundering successful transportation to a cause trafficking enactment astatine the Justice Department connected Nov. 19, 2025 successful Washington, DC.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

"His lawyer advised him to termination this witness. His lawyer told him, ‘If you termination this witness, the lawsuit would beryllium dismissed.’ That lawyer is present successful custody and he’ll beryllium extradited and brought to justness present successful the United States," Essayli said. 

Meanwhile, the indictment against Paradkar reads, "Defendant Paradkar, and others known and chartless to the Grand Jury, would counsel suspect Wedding and [Wedding's accomplice Andrew] Clark that Victim A’s execution would payment them by causing the national indictment against them successful Wedding I and related extradition proceedings to beryllium dismissed." 

The indictment went connected to allege that Paradkar allegedly allowed Clark to "covertly" perceive successful connected a speech helium was having with 1 different accused suspect. The indictment besides alleged that portion Clark and different suspect discussed sidesplitting different co-accused, Paradkar advised them to "discuss the substance connected a antithetic chat without him contiguous and to delete immoderate and each treatment of the execution plot."

A U.S. Department of the Treasury quality merchandise issued abstracted sanctions against Paradkar connected Wednesday, arsenic officials accused the lawyer of violating the "trust of his clients and the morals of his profession" by allowing Wedding and his associates to eavesdrop connected privileged communication.

WHO IS RYAN WEDDING? OLYMPIAN TURNED ALLEGED MURDEROUS DRUG KINGPIN AND TOP FBI TARGET

"Paradkar is simply a Canadian lawyer who has provided a scope of amerciable services to Wedding and his cause trafficking enactment beyond the scope of a mean attorney-client relationship," the quality merchandise read. 

"Paradkar introduced Wedding to the cause traffickers that person been moving Wedding’s cocaine and has besides helped Wedding with bribery and murder.  

"Paradkar violated the spot of his clients and the morals of his assemblage by allowing Wedding and his associates to eavesdrop connected privileged communications betwixt Paradkar and his different clients, respective of whom Wedding wished to murder. Wedding paid Paradkar with luxury watches and further fees for these amerciable services."

Wedding yet ordered a deed connected a national witnesser by publishing pics of him online, US Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed Wednesday. The ex-Olympian allegedly shared the photographs of the witnesser who was owed to attest against him connected a now-deleted website called "The Dirty News," aft helium was indicted successful 2024, Bondi said.

The witnesser was past changeable dormant successful a edifice successful Medellin, Colombia, connected Jan. 31.

Federal officials raised the reward for Wedding's seizure to $15 cardinal connected Wednesday.

Wedding, 44, and 14 different alleged associates were accused of orchestrating the January 2025 execution of a witnesser who was changeable and killed astatine a edifice successful Colombia. Officials said Wedding placed a bounty connected the victim’s caput reasoning their decease would pb to the dismissal of charges against him and the drug-trafficking ringing helium is allegedly the caput of.

Wedding is connected the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List and is described arsenic "extremely convulsive transgression believed to beryllium liable for the execution of galore radical abroad," according to national officials.

Wedding is allegedly liable for trafficking tons of cocaine done Colombia and Mexico to beryllium distributed successful the U.S. and Canada and uses cryptocurrency to fell his wealth. The FBI has said that Wedding has ordered dozens of murders successful North America and Latin America.

Wedding participated successful the 2002 Olympics successful Salt Lake City aft missing retired connected the 1998 Games. It was the lone Olympics helium competed in.

In his lone event, the men's parallel elephantine slalom, Wedding finished successful 24th place. Switzerland's Philipp Schoch won gold, Sweden's Richard Rikardsson won metallic and Chris Klug of the U.S. took bronze.

The FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police allege Wedding and Clark coordinated a November 2023 treble homicide successful Ontario involving an guiltless mates successful a mistaken-identity killing, according to the FBI.

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Ryan Wedding of Canada takes a signifier tally for the men's parallel elephantine slalom of the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Games successful Park City connected Feb. 13, 2002.   (REUTERS/Jeff J Mitchell)

Wedding and Clark are besides accused of coordinating the execution of different idiosyncratic successful May implicit a cause debt.

The execution and transgression endeavor charges against Wedding transportation a mandatory minimum punishment of beingness successful a national prison.

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