Ryan Wedding ceremony, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who allegedly grew to become the top of a billion-dollar drug trafficking group, pleaded not responsible to a number of expenses in opposition to him Monday and was ordered detained as his case proceeds.
Wedding ceremony, who authorities say was in hiding for greater than a decade and on the FBI’s “Ten Most Needed Fugitives” checklist, was arrested final week. He faces 17 felonies in two separate indictments.
Throughout the courtroom listening to on the Ronald Reagan Federal Constructing and Courthouse in Santa Ana, Wedding ceremony, who wore a beige jail uniform and black Crocs, scanned the gallery and sometimes smirked. Hulking and tattooed, the 6-foot-3 Wedding ceremony towered over his lawyer and the deputy marshals standing guard within the courtroom.
U.S. Justice of the Peace Choose John D. Early ordered Wedding ceremony jailed with out bond and set the following listening to for Feb. 11.
The choose set a tentative trial date in March, though Wedding ceremony’s lawyer, Anthony Colombo, stated it will probably take extra time for the case to unfold.
Colombo didn’t argue for his shopper’s launch on Monday afternoon, later citing “the whirlwind” Wedding ceremony had skilled since his apprehension.
“It takes time to place the sureties in place, to have the knowledge for the courtroom to ascertain that there’s a situation or mixture of circumstances that might safe his launch,” Colombo instructed reporters. “We weren’t within the place right this moment to try this and we anticipate addressing that at a later date.”
Colombo stated he first met along with his shopper a number of days in the past, after his arrival within the U.S., and described him as being “in good spirits.” Colombo disputed claims from federal authorities that Wedding ceremony had been in hiding out in Mexico.
“Hiding out and residing someplace are two various things,” Colombo stated. “I’d characterize him as residing, the federal government can characterize it their manner.”
Colombo added that his shopper was arrested and “he didn’t give up.”
Wedding ceremony, who was recognized by many aliases, together with “El Jefe” and “Public Enemy,” is accused of turning into a significant trafficker of cocaine into Canada and the US and a ruthless chief who ordered killings, together with considered one of a witness in a 2024 federal narcotics case in opposition to him. The alleged order resulted within the sufferer being shot to dying in a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia, in January 2025, prosecutors stated.
The previous Olympic snowboarder was charged in a 2024 indictment with working a unbroken felony enterprise, assorted drug trafficking expenses and directing the murders of two members of a household in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug cargo.
“Simply to let you know how unhealthy of a man Ryan Wedding ceremony is, he went from an Olympic snowboarder to the biggest narco trafficker in fashionable instances,” Patel stated in a information convention Friday saying the arrest. “He’s a modern-day El Chapo, he’s a modern-day Pablo Escobar. And he thought he may evade justice.”
When questioned about authorities likening his shopper to El Chapo and Pablo Escobar, Colombo stated, “I believe it’s overstated, that’s their spin.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell stated final week that Wedding ceremony’s alleged international drug trafficking group “used Los Angeles as its major level of distribution.”
Akil Davis, assistant director in command of the Los Angeles FBI subject workplace, stated after Wedding ceremony’s seize that his alleged group shipped roughly 60 metric tons of cocaine by way of Southern California on its method to Canada.
Authorities have arrested 36 folks in reference to their function within the transnational group and the U.S. Treasury Division has sanctioned 19 folks, together with Wedding ceremony, in accordance with Davis.
Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi beforehand stated Wedding ceremony’s operation was accountable for producing greater than $1 billion a yr in unlawful drug proceeds.
Wedding ceremony competed for his dwelling nation, Canada, within the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake Metropolis.
An skilled lawyer, Colombo beforehand represented Rubén Oseguera González, also referred to as “El Menchito,” the son of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” the chief of the Jalisco New Era Cartel.
Oseguera González was sentenced final yr to a time period of life in jail plus 30 years to run consecutively for his function in a significant drug trafficking conspiracy.
