Ex-Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding pleads not guilty to running billion-dollar drug empire, murder charges
Wedding is accused of working with the Sinaloa cartel to distribute cocaine across North America
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who had been one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted fugitives, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he ran a billion-dollar drug-trafficking ring, days after his arrest in Mexico.
Wedding, who was captured with the help of Mexican authorities before being brought to the U.S. last week to face charges connected to drug trafficking and murder, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Early in a federal court in Santa Ana, California, where he entered a not guilty plea.
In this courtroom sketch, former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, left, and his defense attorney Anthony Colombo, middle, appear before Judge John D. Early at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Santa Ana, California, on Jan. 26, 2026. (Bill Robles via AP)
Wedding was indicted in 2024 on federal charges of running a criminal enterprise, murder, conspiring to distribute cocaine and other crimes. He is accused of working with Mexican cartels to move cocaine obtained in Colombia to the U.S. and from there distributing the drugs to other states and into Canada.
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According to the indictment, Wedding is accused of moving as much as 60 tons of cocaine between those countries, and his drug trafficking group is believed to be the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.
FBI Director Kash Patel, who was on hand for Wedding’s arrest, said during a news conference on Friday that Wedding worked under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Just to tell you how bad of a guy Ryan Wedding is, he went from an Olympic snowboarder to the largest narco-trafficker in modern times," Patel said on the tarmac of Ontario International Airport on Friday. "He's a modern-day El Chapo. He is a modern-day Pablo Escobar, and he thought he could evade justice.
Ryan Wedding, wanted by the FBI, was seen taking a practice run for the men's parallel giant slalom of the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Park City, Feb. 13, 2002. (FBI; Reuters/Jeff J Mitchell)
"This individual and his organization and the Sinaloa cartel poured narcotics into the streets of North America and killed too many of our youth and corrupted too many of our citizens. And that ends today."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Wedding also faces murder charges, including allegations that he orchestrated the 2023 killings of two members of a Canadian family in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment, and for ordering a killing over a drug debt in 2024.
Wedding and 14 other alleged associates were also accused of orchestrating the January 2025 murder of a witness who was shot and killed at a restaurant in Colombia. He allegedly placed a bounty on the victim’s head, thinking the victim's death would lead to the dismissal of charges against him and the drug-trafficking ring he allegedly heads, according to an indictment unsealed in November.
Former Olympian Ryan Wedding is escorted after being captured for alleged drug trafficking. (Courtesy of the FBI)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mexican officials claimed Wedding turned himself in last week, but his defense attorney, Anthony Colombo, disputed that outside the court on Monday, claiming that the former Olympian was living in Mexico, not hiding, and that he "was arrested."
"He did not surrender."
The judge ordered that Wedding remain in custody. He is due back in court Feb. 11, and a trial date was set for March 24. Wedding faces separate drug charges in Canada.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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