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Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who was among the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he ran a billion-dollar drug trafficking ring, 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 related to drug trafficking and murder, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Early in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif., where he pleaded not guilty.
In this courtroom sketch, former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, left, accused of running a vast cocaine smuggling ring and associated murders, and his defense attorney Anthony Colombo, center, attend Wedding’s first appearance before a federal judge, U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Early, at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Santa Ana, California, on January 26, 2026. (Bill Robles via AP)
Wedding was indicted in 2024 on federal charges of directing a criminal enterprise, murder, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and other crimes. He is accused of collaborating with Mexican cartels to transport cocaine obtained in Colombia to the United States and from there to distribute the drugs to other states and Canada.
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According to the indictment, Wedding is accused of transporting up to 60 tons of cocaine between these countries, and his drug trafficking group is believed to be the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.
Director of the FBI Kash Patelwho was present during Wedding’s arrest, told a news conference Friday that Wedding was working under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
“Just to tell you what a bad guy Ryan Wedding is, he went from Olympic snowboarder to the biggest drug trafficker 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 escape justice.
Ryan Wedding, wanted by the FBI, was seen training for the men’s parallel giant slalom at the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics in Park City, February 13, 2002. (FBI | REUTERS/Jeff J Mitchell)
KASH PATEL SAYS CAPTURE OF OLYMPIC KING RYAN WEDDING IS LATEST SUCCESS OF TRUMP’S CRIME SUPPRESSION
“This individual, his organization and the Sinaloa Cartel have dumped drugs on the streets of North America, killed too many young people and corrupted too many citizens. And it ends today.”
Wedding also faces murder charges, including allegations that he orchestrated the murders of two members of a Canadian family in 2023 in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment, and for ordering a killing over a drug debt in 2024.
Wedding and 14 other alleged associates were also charged with orchestrating the January 2025 murder of a witness who was shot and killed at a restaurant in Colombia. He allegedly put a bounty on the victim’s head, thinking that his death would result in charges against him and the drug trafficking network he allegedly led being dropped, according to an indictment unsealed in November.
Former Olympian Ryan Wedding is escorted after being captured for suspected drug trafficking. (Courtesy of the FBI)
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Mexican authorities said Wedding turned himself in last week, but his lawyer, Anthony Colombo, disputed that in court Monday, saying the former Olympic athlete lived in Mexico, was not in hiding, and that he “had been arrested.”
“He didn’t surrender.”
The judge ordered Wedding to remain in custody. He is due back in court on February 11 and his trial date has been set for March 24. Wedding faces separate drug charges in Canada.
