SANTA ANA, Calif. — Ryan Wedding, the former Olympic snowboarder who allegedly headed a billion-dollar drug trafficking organization, pleaded not guilty to two federal indictments on Monday.
Wedding, 44, who competed for Canada in the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, is facing 17 charges related to drug trafficking and murder, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Wedding made his first court appearance in Santa Ana, California. He was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted fugitives list in March 2025; Wedding was arrested last week in Mexico and was flown to California to face charges, according to The Associated Press.
Federal authorities said that Wedding had been hiding in Mexico for more than a decade and had been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the country’s most powerful drug organizations.
In a statement posted online Monday, Mexican Attorney General Ernestina Godoy Ramos characterized Wedding as a “top-tier logistics operator” for the Sinaloa Cartel.
Authorities had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Wedding’s arrest and conviction.
Wedding’s attorney, Anthony Colombo, disputed claims that his client had been in hiding.
“Hiding out and living somewhere are two different things,” Colombo said, according to the Times. “I would characterize him as living, the government can characterize it their way.”
Wedding is accused of masterminding a criminal enterprise that shipped up to 60 tons of cocaine annually from Mexico into the United States and Canada. According to a 2024 indictment, Weddning’s group was the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.
He was known by several aliases, including “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy” and “James Conrad Kin,” the AP reported.
Authorities describe Wedding as a ruthless leader who ordered murders, including the fatal shooting a witness in a 2024 federal narcotics case against him. Prosecutors said the victim was killed in a Colombian restaurant in January 2025.
Attorney General Pam Bondi previously said Wedding’s operation was responsible for generating more than $1 billion a year in illegal drug profits.
Wedding was scheduled to return to court on Feb. 11. A trial date has been set for March 24.
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