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Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who had been one of the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he ran a billion-dollar drug trade, days after his arrest in Mexico.
Wedding, who was captured with the help of Mexican authorities before being brought to the United States last week to face charges of drug trafficking and murder, appeared before U.S. Magistrate John D. Early in federal court in Santa Ana, California, where he entered a not guilty plea.
In this courtroom sketch, former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, left, and his defense attorney Anthony Colombo, center, appear before Judge John D. Early at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and US Courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif., on Jan. 26, 2026. (Bill Robles via AP)
Wedding was indicted in 2024 on federal charges of operating a criminal enterprise, murder, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and other crimes. He is accused of working with Mexican cartels to move cocaine obtained in Colombia to the United States and from there distribute the drugs to other states and into Canada.
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According to the indictment, Wedding is accused of moving as much as 60 tons of cocaine between those countries, and his drug trafficking ring is believed to be the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.
FBI director Kash Patelwho was poised to arrest Wedding, said during a news conference Friday that Wedding was working under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
“Just to tell you how bad of a guy Ryan Wedding is, he went from an Olympic snowboarder to the biggest drug dealer of modern times,” Patel said on the tarmac at Ontario International Airport on Friday. “He’s a modern-day El Chapo. He’s a modern-day Pablo Escobar, and he thought he could evade justice.
Ryan Wedding, wanted by the FBI, is seen practicing for the men’s parallel giant slalom at the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics in Park City, on February 13, 2002. (FBI; Reuters/Jeff J Mitchell)
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“This person and his organization and the Sinaloa Cartel poured drugs onto the streets of North America and killed too many of our youth and corrupted too many of our citizens. And that ends today.”
Wedding is also accused of murder, including allegations that he orchestrated the 2023 killings of two members of a Canadian family in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment and of ordering a 2024 killing over a drug debt.
Wedding and 14 other alleged associates were also accused of orchestrating the January 2025 killing of a witness who was shot dead at a restaurant in Colombia. He allegedly placed a bounty on the victim’s head, believing the victim’s death would lead to the dismissal of charges against him and the drug ring he allegedly heads, according to an indictment unsealed in November.
Former Olympian Ryan Wedding is being escorted after being captured for alleged drug dealing. (Courtesy of the FBI)
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Mexican officials claimed that Wedding turned himself in last week, but his defense attorney, Anthony Colombo, disputed that outside court Monday, arguing that the former Olympian lived in Mexico, was not in hiding and that he “was arrested.”
“He didn’t surrender.”
The judge ordered that Wedding remain in custody. He is due back in court on February 11 and a trial date was set for March 24. Wedding faces separate drug charges in Canada.
