Authorities allege Ryan Wedding, 44, ‘turned to a life of crime’ after his snowboarding career ended
Ryan Wedding, the Canadian former Olympic snowboarder accused of cocaine distribution and orchestrating several murders, appeared on Monday in a southern California courtroom for arraignment.
The 44-year-old has been charged with drug trafficking, conspiracy to murder, witness tampering and money laundering, among other charges. Authorities allege that after his snowboarding career, Wedding “turned to a life of crime” as a narcotics trafficker and led an organization that moved cocaine from South America to the US and Canada.
He is also accused of directing the “drug-related” murders of two members of a family in Ontario in 2023, the 2024 murder of another victim in Canada over a drug debt and the January 2025 murder of an associate, and FBI witness, in Colombia.
During his first appearance in court in Santa Ana on Monday, Wedding pleaded not guilty to 17 felony charges laid out in two indictments. He will remain jailed without bond as ordered by the US magistrate judge John D Early.
