In this courtroom sketch, former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, left, who is accused of running a vast cocaine smuggling ring and related killings, and his defence attorney Anthony Colombo, middle, attend Wedding's first court appearance before U.S. Magistrate John D. Early, in Santa Ana, Calif., on Jan. 26.Bill Robles/The Associated Press
American prosecutors are not saying whether they will seek the death penalty for Ryan Wedding, the former Canadian Olympic snowboarder accused of being a cocaine kingpin, if he is convicted of drug trafficking and murder conspiracy.
That uncertainty could stoke tensions between the U.S. and Canada, which outlawed capital punishment in 1976. Since 1999, the last time a Canadian citizen was executed in the United States, Canadian courts have directed cabinet ministers, diplomats and law-enforcement officials to take steps to try to prevent the execution of Canadians on death row.
U.S. Department of Justice officials will not say whether the death penalty could be considered in the case. “No comment,” said Ciaran McEvoy, spokesman for the DOJ, Central District of California. His counterpart in Washington, Natalie Baldassarre, also declined to comment.
Officials with Global Affairs Canada, the federal Justice Department and the RCMP did not respond to questions about whether Mr. Wedding could face capital punishment.
A federal guidebook published for citizens detained abroad says that the Canadian government “opposes the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere, and will undertake clemency intervention and offer consular assistance to all Canadians charged or convicted of a crime punishable by death.”
Ryan Wedding pleads not guilty to charges of murder conspiracy and drug trafficking
For decades, Canada and Mexico, where capital punishment has also been abolished, have crafted extradition treaties that specifically demand assurances that any suspects they hand over to the United States will not be put to death.
However, it’s not clear whether these strictures would apply to Mr. Wedding, who was arrested last month in Mexico under murky circumstances and swiftly transported in an FBI plane to California.
A Mexican government official told The Globe and Mail that because Mr. Wedding was not extradited, he is not protected against capital punishment by the Mexico-U.S. extradition treaty. The Globe is not naming the official because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the government.
Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been arrested in Mexico on multiple charges of drug trafficking and murder, authorities announced on Friday (Jan 23). Wedding was among the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives,
The Associated Press
Immediately after the Jan. 22 arrest, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Mr. Wedding surrendered at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City. However, FBI director Kash Patel announced the apprehension by lauding one of his counterterrorism teams for its actions in Mexico with local authorities.
Mr. Wedding was brought to the United States hours after his capture. He pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking and murder conspiracy in a Los Angeles courtroom last week.
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On the courthouse steps, his lawyer Anthony Colombo disputed reports that Mr. Wedding had voluntarily surrendered. “He was apprehended,” Mr. Colombo said.
The California lawyer said that pursuing capital punishment could be considered an option for prosecutors.
“Given the charges that have been filed against Mr. Wedding, it is a death-penalty-eligible case,” he said in an interview.
But he said it is very rare for prosecutors to pursue a death sentence. “Practically speaking I don’t think the death penalty will be pursued in this case.”
The FBI did not respond to questions from The Globe about its operations and negotiations surrounding Mr. Wedding’s capture.
Swift transfer of Ryan Wedding from Mexico to U.S. raises questions
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said he was given a heads up three days prior by the FBI to be prepared to come to California to mark Mr. Wedding’s arrival.
“The briefing I got was very little with how he was apprehended,” Commissioner Duheme said in an interview broadcast Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live.
“I was told to be in Ontario, California, at a certain time and be there for the arrival.”
He said he could not speak about the FBI’s “special operations.”
Speaking to reporters in Montreal on Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand was asked about Mr. Wedding’s case and said, “The issue relating to that extradition is one that we are taking a look at, and I will refrain from comment.”
Under new direction from the White House, U.S. Attorney-General Pamela Bondi issued a memo in February, 2025, urging federal prosecutors to pursue capital punishment against alleged drug traffickers implicated in murder-for-hire conspiracies.
Bail decision for man accused of laundering Ryan Wedding’s money to come next month
One week before that memo was circulated, a 42-year-old Canadian man named Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia was shot five times in the head in Colombia. Police and prosecutors now allege this was a contract killing ordered by Mr. Wedding to quiet an alleged associate he saw as an informant for the FBI and RCMP.
“The Justice Department will use every tool available to catch these monsters,” Ms. Bondi said in November as she announced murder conspiracy charges against Mr. Wedding, a fugitive at the time, for the Colombia killing.
Weeks after the January, 2025, murder, Mr. Wedding’s alleged second in command, Canadian Andrew Clark, was apprehended in Mexico and sent to Los Angeles without any extradition processes being engaged.
While Ms. Bondi initially said in a statement that Mr. Clark could face the death penalty, her prosecutors later filed a waiver saying that they would not be seeking capital punishment in Mr. Clark’s case. He has pleaded not guilty.
Since July, 2023, the RCMP and FBI have been collaborating on a probe against Mr. Wedding, which is known as Operation Giant Slalom.
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No charges have been laid in Canada. But U.S. prosecutors say that Mr. Wedding ran a drug-trafficking organization whose goal was to ship hundreds of kilograms of cocaine across North America.
They allege that both Mr. Wedding and Mr. Clark orchestrated several murder-for-hire conspiracies in Southern Ontario to enforce drug debts. One shooting in Caledon, a case of mistaken identity, resulted in the slaying of a mother and a father. Their 28-year-old daughter was shot 13 times but survived.
Mr. Wedding’s swift transfer to the U.S. followed the handover of more than 90 suspected drug traffickers from Mexico to the U.S. during the past 12 months.
“The Department agreed not to seek the death penalty against the fugitives,” the U.S. DOJ said in a January statement about those cases. “This was necessary to ensure that the Government of Mexico will continue to transfer defendants pursuant to its National Security Law and to maximize its co-operation with the U.S. government.”
With a report from Maura Forrest in Montreal