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Former Olympic snowboarder charged in drug ring
Ryan Wedding, who represented Canada in the 2002 Olympics has been charged with allegedly operating a drug trafficking ring based in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES - A former Olympic snowboarder is among 16 defendants charged in Los Angeles for allegedly operating a drug trafficking organization that shipped hundreds of pounds of cocaine through Southern California and orchestrated several murders, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Ryan James Wedding, 43, and Andrew Clark, 34 — both Canadians living in Mexico — were previously charged with running a criminal enterprise, murder and conspiring to possess, distribute, and export cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Clark was arrested last week by Mexican law enforcement, but Wedding remains at large.
An updated indictment unsealed Thursday in federal court, added 14 more co-defendants. Prosecutors allege that Wedding, Clark and others orchestrated shipments of cocaine that often weighed hundreds of pounds from Southern California to Canada between January and August.
Ryan Wedding of Canada competes in the qualifying round of the men's parallel giant slalom snowboarding event during the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games at the Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah. (Credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
The cocaine shipments were sent from Mexico to Los Angeles, where they were stored in "stash houses," then delivered to couriers for transportation to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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Prosecutors contend that Wedding and Clark ordered the November 2023 murders of two members of a family in Ontario, Canada, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California. Another member of that family survived the shooting but was left with serious physical injuries, according to court papers.
Prosecutors contend Wedding and Clark also ordered the murder of another victim in May over a drug debt. Clark and Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, a resident of Canada, are charged with the April 1 murder of another victim in Ontario, Canada.
Wedding, who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, is the superseding indictment's lead defendant.
Wedding is charged with eight federal felonies: two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export cocaine, one count of leading a continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime, and one count of attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime, according to the indictment.
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Clark is charged with the same eight felonies, plus an additional count of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.
During the investigation, more than one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in United States currency, and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency were seized, officials said.
Several of the defendants are expected to make their court appearances within the coming week in Los Angeles, Michigan and Miami.
If convicted as charged, Wedding, Clark, and Cunningham would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on the murder and attempted murder charges, prosecutors noted.