Deepak Paradkar, shown in 2017, faces criminal charges in connection to the case against Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding.Mark Blinch/The Canadian Press
The Law Society of Ontario is seeking to suspend the licence of Toronto-area lawyer Deepak Paradkar, citing the criminal charges he faces in connection to the sprawling U.S. case against alleged cocaine kingpin Ryan Wedding.
Mr. Paradkar is among eight Canadians who were arrested last week and are facing extradition to the U.S. He has been charged with multiple offences, including allegedly advising Mr. Wedding to kill a key witness who was set to testify against him.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
In a notice posted online Thursday, the law society said it is pursuing an interim order “to suspend or restrict” Mr. Paradkar’s licence “on the basis that there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a significant risk of harm to members of the public, or to the public interest in the administration of justice, if the order is not made.”
Mr. Paradkar’s extradition proceedings are scheduled to continue in Toronto, with a bail hearing scheduled for Dec. 10.
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The suspension notice says that Mr. Paradkar risks losing his law licence because he “is facing very serious criminal charges in the United States of America involving conspiracy to murder a witness, conspiracy to export and distribute cocaine, and engaging in a criminal enterprise.”
The pending Law Society of Ontario tribunal hearing is slated for Dec. 5.
“If he doesn’t attend, the hearing will proceed in his absence,” said Ivy Johnson, a spokeswoman for the tribunal. In past cases, she said, other incarcerated lawyers have attended similar hearings by video.
Mr. Paradkar appeared earlier this week in criminal court via video link from the Toronto East Detention Centre. He has been practising law since 1993 in Ontario where he has cultivated a reputation as a skilled criminal lawyer, particularly for clients facing serious drug charges.
The U.S. government unsealed an indictment in Los Angeles last week alleging that Mr. Wedding – a Canadian fugitive believed to be hiding in Mexico – used Mr. Paradkar as a drug-organization operative.
Attorney-General Pam Bondi stands near a wanted poster for Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on Nov. 19.Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press
The U.S. Department of Justice says Mr. Paradkar provided a range of illegal services to Mr. Wedding that went “beyond the scope of a normal attorney-client relationship.” Investigators say he introduced Mr. Wedding to the drug traffickers who moved his cocaine and has also helped him arrange bribes.
It is further alleged that Mr. Paradkar would help keep tabs on the organization’s cocaine couriers and help plot violence against them if they were at risk of revealing secrets to law enforcement.
The nine-count U.S. indictment filed in California alleges that Mr. Paradkar was part of several plots; most significantly, Mr. Wedding’s alleged conspiracy that had a man shot five times in the head in Colombia in January. This target was believed to be Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia – allegedly a Wedding organization drug trafficker whom the FBI had flipped into working as an undercover government witness.
“The witness was gunned down at a restaurant in Medellín before he could testify against Wedding,” U.S. Attorney-General Pam Bondi told reporters as the indictment against Mr. Paradkar and several other alleged Canadian conspirators was unsealed last week.
Ms. Bondi, the top law-enforcement official in America, and her prosecutors have highlighted other plots by the organization that are alleged to have involved Mr. Paradkar.
In October, 2024, police in Arkansas pulled over two vehicles carrying 521 kilograms of cocaine bound for Canada. Within hours, court records say, bosses in the Wedding organization were discussing “killing everyone involved.”
Court filings in Canada related to Mr. Paradkar’s extradition case say that he allegedly weighed into a group chat involving the cartel’s leaders – called “911 Arkansa” – with strict instructions: “Clear this convo,” he allegedly said, adding, “set up a separate group for you” and “only lawyer stuff for me.”
The Ontario Superior Court filings show that the evidence against Mr. Paradkar comes from a co-operating FBI witness, and from a phone belonging to Mr. Wedding’s alleged No. 2, Andrew Clark. The phone was seized by Mexican authorities and handed over to the FBI in March, 2025, after Mr. Clark’s arrest.
The only public record of a previous Law Society of Ontario matter involving Mr. Paradkar dates back to 2017, when he was the subject of a regulatory meeting related to the use of his Instagram handle at the time, “Cocaine_lawyer.” In that matter, the society determined that formal regulatory proceedings were not warranted.
Ravin Pillay, a Toronto lawyer who represented Mr. Paradkar at his initial extradition court appearance last week, could not be reached for comment.
With reports from Kathryn Blaze Baum, Greg Mercer and Sara Mojtehedzadeh