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Canadian drug abuse defense lawyer Deepak Paradkar was arrested as part of the FBI’s sweeping crackdown on former Olympian Ryan Wedding, the FBI and DOJ announced Wednesday.
Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder for Team Canada, remains at large on multiple charges, including murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug offences, tampering with a witness, victim or informant and retaliation against a witness, victim or informant.
Paradkar was described as Wedding’s lawyer at the press conference by US Attorney Bill Essayli. Essayli also claimed that Paradkar advised Wedding to have a witness killed in an attempt to get a case dismissed.
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An aide displays a wanted poster during a news conference announcing the indictment of former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, charging him with murder and money laundering in connection with a drug trafficking organization at the Department of Justice on November 19, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“His lawyer advised him to kill this witness. His lawyer told him, ‘If you kill this witness, the case would be dismissed.’ That lawyer is now in custody and he will be extradited and tried here in the United States,” Essayli said.
Meanwhile, the indictment against Paradkar reads: “Defendant Paradkar and others known and unknown to the grand jury will advise defendant Wedding and [Wedding’s accomplice Andrew] Clark that Victim A’s murder would benefit them by having the federal charges against them in Wedding I and related extradition cases dismissed.”
The indictment went on to allege that Paradkar allegedly allowed Clark to “surreptitiously” listen to a conversation he had with each other accused suspects. The indictment also alleged that while Clark and another defendant discussed killing another co-defendant, Paradkar advised them to “discuss the matter on another chat without him present and to delete any discussion of the murder plot.”
A press release from the US Department of the Treasury issued separate sanctions against Paradkar on Wednesday, as officials accused the lawyer of violating “the trust of his clients and the ethics of his profession” by allowing Wedding and his associates to intercept privileged communications.
WHO IS RYAN WEDDING? OLYMPIC WAS ALLEGED MURDEROUS DRUG KINGPIN AND TOP FBI TARGET
“Paradkar is a Canadian lawyer who provided a number of illegal services to Wedding and his drug trafficking organization beyond the scope of a normal lawyer-client relationship,” the press release read.
“Paradkar introduced Wedding to the drug dealers who moved Wedding’s cocaine and also helped Wedding with bribery and murder.
“Paradkar violated the trust of his clients and the ethics of his profession by allowing Wedding and his associates to intercept privileged communications between Paradkar and his other clients, several of whom Wedding wanted to murder. Wedding paid Paradkar with luxury watches and extra fees for these illegal services.”
Wedding ultimately ordered a hit on a federal witness by posting pictures of him online, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed Wednesday. The ex-Olympian allegedly shared the photographs of the witness who was to testify against him on a now-deleted website called “The Dirty News” after he was indicted in 2024, Bondi said.
The witness was then shot and killed at a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, on January 31.
Federal officials raised the reward for the wedding’s capture to $15 million on Wednesday.
Wedding, 44 and 14 other alleged associates were accused of orchestrating the January 2025 killing of a witness who was shot dead at a restaurant in Colombia. Officials said Wedding placed a bounty on the victim’s head, believing their death would lead to the dismissal of charges against him and the drug trade he allegedly heads.
Wedding is on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and is described as “an extremely violent criminal believed to be responsible for the murders of numerous people overseas,” according to federal officials.
Wedding is allegedly responsible for trafficking tons of cocaine through Colombia and Mexico for distribution in the United States and Canada and uses cryptocurrency to hide his wealth. The FBI has said Wedding ordered dozens of murders in North America and Latin America.
Wedding attended 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City after missing the Games in 1998. It was the only Olympics he attended.
In his only event, the men’s parallel giant slalom, Wedding finished 24th. Switzerland’s Philipp Schoch won gold, Sweden’s Richard Rikardsson won silver and Chris Klug from the USA took bronze.
The FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police allege that Wedding and Clark coordinated a double homicide in November 2023 in Ontario that involved an innocent couple in a homicide by mistaken identity, according to the FBI.
Ryan Wedding of Canada takes a practice run for the men’s parallel giant slalom at the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Park City on February 13, 2002. (REUTERS/Jeff J Mitchell)
Wedding and Clark are also accused of coordinating the murder of another person in May over a drug debt.
The murder and criminal enterprise charges against Wedding carry a mandatory minimum sentence of life in federal prison.
