Canadian lawyer advised alleged drug lord ex-Olympian to kill witness to have case dismissed, DOJ says

Justice correspondent David Spunt provides details on the new charges against former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding as the FBI believes he is being protected by cartels in Mexico. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli weighs in. 

Canadian drug violation defense attorney 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, is still at large on multiple charges, including murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime, 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 U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. Essayli also claimed that Paradkar advised Wedding to have a witness killed in attempt to have a case dismissed. 

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An aide displays a wanted poster during a news conference announcing the indictment of a former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, charging him with murder and money laundering in connection to a drug trafficking organization at the Justice Department on Nov. 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’ll be extradited and brought to justice here in the United States," Essayli said. 

Meanwhile, the indictment against Paradkar reads, "Defendant Paradkar, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, would advise defendant Wedding and [Wedding's accomplice Andrew] Clark that Victim A’s murder