Alleged accomplice in fugitive ex-Olympian case denied bail
An alleged accomplice of Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding has been denied bail, Ontario Superior Court heard on Friday.
Former trucker Gurpreet Singh is accused of helping to co-ordinate cocaine shipments from California to Canada on behalf of Wedding's alleged crime ring. He faces extradition to the U.S., where prosecutors want him to stand trial on drug-related charges.
In his written decision, Justice Michael Dineen wrote that Singh "has a very strong incentive to flee to avoid a potential sentence greater than 20 years in the United States."
The allegations against Singh suggest he has connections with international criminal organizations, including in Mexico, Dubai and Colombia, the decision reads.
Dineen wrote the court does not have a "credible picture" of Singh's financial situation, and whether he has any funds he could use to flee the country.
"The record before me considered as whole gives rise to an obvious concern that Mr. Singh may have a large and unknown further amount of concealed illegal income," he said.
Defence had proposed strict house arrest
The defence had proposed a strict house arrest release to Singh's parents' home, with GPS monitoring and the supervision of three sureties, including his parents and a family friend.
But Dineen wrote that "it is not realistic to expect this bail plan to stop Mr. Singh from disabling the GPS monitor, getting in a vehicle and effectively disappearing if he had the motivation and resources to do so."
U.S. prosecutors had warned against granting bail to Singh, who is one of Wedding's four co-defendants in custody in Ontario. They suggested in a recent letter submitted to the Ontario court that Singh, 31, owes a debt to Wedding over a kidnapping incident.
WATCH | $10 million US reward offered for information leading to Ryan Wedding's arrest:
Ryan Wedding's path from Olympian to most-wanted fugitive
16 days ago
Duration 6:03
Ryan Wedding once represented Canada as an Olympic snowboarder; now he's accused of being a drug kingpin and is on the FBI's most wanted list — with a $10 million US reward being offered for information leading to his arrest. CBC's Thomas Daigle traces his shocking path from the top of the slopes to the underworld.
Prosecutors argued Wedding took credit for negotiating Singh's release last summer after he was kidnapped by cartel members in Sinaloa, Mexico over a $600,000 drug debt.
"Wedding should not be granted access to an additional loyalist through the release of Singh on bail," Los Angeles-based assistant U.S. attorneys Maria Jhai and Lyndsi Allsop recently wrote.
Singh was arrested in October 2024.
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