Former Olympian Ryan Wedding Added to FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List
Ryan Wedding, 43, is a Canadian national who once competed at the Giant Slalom snowboarding competition during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
He is wanted for allegedly running a drug trafficking ring that exported significant amounts of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other areas in the U.S. Wedding has also been accused of facilitating several murders in furtherance of his alleged drug operation.
'Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,' Akil Davis, the Assistant Director of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said in a press conference Thursday.
'The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man, and his addition to the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, coupled with a major reward offer by the State Department, will make the public our partner so that we can catch up with him before he puts anyone else in danger,' he continued.
In a press release, the FBI disclosed that investigators believe Wedding may be residing in Mexico, but have also listed the U.S., Canada, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica as other likely places.
They added that his aliases include 'El Jefe,' 'Giant,' 'Public Enemy,' 'James Conrad King,' and 'Jesse King.' The $10 million reward was also authorized by Secretary of State Marco Rubio under the Narcotics Rewards Program, an initiative to assist law enforcement with drug busting operations.
Wedding's alleged right-hand man, Canadian national Andrew Clark, 34, was arrested last October by Mexican authorities, according to the FBI, and is part of the 29 fugitives Attorney General Pam Bondi announced arrived back to the U.S. from Mexico last week to face their respective charges.
If convicted, Wedding faces a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison for his 'continuing criminal enterprise charge' the FBI writes. Murder and drug trafficking charges could subsequently add 20 or 10 to 15 years in prison respectively.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
10 minutes ago
- USA Today
Florida matriarch accused of orchestrating son-in-law's murder faces trial this week
Donna Adelson was arrested in November 2023 after trying to board a one-way flight to Vietnam following her son's conviction in Dan Markel's murder. TALLAHASSEE, FL – Donna Adelson, the matriarch of an affluent South Florida family accused of orchestrating the notorious murder-for-hire plot that killed her former son-in-law Dan Markel, is set to face trial this week. Jury selection began Aug. 19 in the case of Adelson, who is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation in the killing of Markel, a Florida State University law professor. It comes nearly a year after her first scheduled trial imploded over conflicts of interest involving her lawyer. In Tallahassee, where Markel was killed in his driveway in July 2014, Leon Circuit Judge Stephen Everett said he expects jury selection to end on Aug. 21, with opening statements expected to begin that afternoon. Adelson, who has pleaded not guilty, is the fifth person to be charged in Markel's murder, including four people who have been convicted: her son Charlie Adelson, the two men hired to carry out the killing, and Charlie Adelson's ex-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua. Adelson and her husband were arrested in November 2023 after they attempted to board a one-way flight to Vietnam, a non-extradition country. A judge in Tallahassee recently ruled the state can use the attempted flight, which came days after her son's conviction, to show "consciousness of guilt." Prosecutors are expected to argue again that after Markel and Wendi Adelson's acrimonious divorce in 2012, her family wanted him out of the way badly enough to have him killed so she could relocate with their kids from Tallahassee to South Florida. Here's what to know about the case that has drawn national attention for more than a decade. What happened to Dan Markel? Markel, who was 41 at the time of his death, was a Canadian-born law professor and legal scholar. He was married to fellow Florida State University professor Wendi Adelson and they had two young sons, but they separated in 2012 and battled through an extremely bitter divorce. On the morning of July 18, 2014, Markel was fatally shot at point blank range in his garage after he dropped off his two sons at day care and went to the gym. Investigators tied the killing to two Miami men, Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia. Both men had connections to the Adelson family through Magbanua, Charlie Adelson's ex-girlfriend, who was on the payroll at the family's dental clinic in South Florida. In Charlie Adelson's 2023 trial, prosecutors said Markel's murder "stemmed from the desperate desire of the Adelson family" for Wendi and her two sons to have the freedom to move to South Florida. In divorce proceedings, Markel won 50/50 custody of the children as well as an order prohibiting Wendi Adelson from moving them closer to her family. Markel also had filed a motion to prevent Donna Adelson from having unsupervised time with her grandchildren after hearing she had made disparaging remarks about him in front of his children. Who has been convicted for Markel's murder? Rivera took a plea deal in 2016 and flipped on Garcia and Magbanua, the mother of Garcia's children. Rivera got 19 years in prison in exchange for ratting out his cohorts. Both Garcia, found guilty in 2019, and Magbanua, found guilty in her second trial last year, are serving life in prison. In November 2023, Charlie Adelson was found guilty of multiple counts, including first-degree murder, and is currently serving a life sentence in South Dakota. He testified in his own defense that he was extorted by Markel's killers through his then-girlfriend, but the jury rejected that theory. Donna Adelson tried to flee the country; spoke of suicide, officials say Authorities said Donna and Harvey Adelson's attempt to flee the country forced their hand in taking her into custody. State Attorney Jack Campbell previously told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the state did not have the evidence to arrest Harvey Adelson, but had enough to arrest Donna Adelson. "That's what forced our hand," Campbell said. Ahead of her arrest, Donna Adelson made several phone calls to her son in jail in which she said she was putting her financial affairs in order and considering whether to leave the country or take her own life. "Donna discusses plans for a suicide, but also discusses plans to flee to a non-extradition country," the affidavit says. What to expect in the Donna Adelson trial Ahead of Donna Adelson's trial, there's been much speculation over who may take the stand and who won't. Wendi Adelson, Markel's ex-wife whom the state considers an uncharged co-conspirator, will return to the stand and testify, under a limited immunity deal, as she has in all the previous trials. She has long denied any involvement or knowledge of the murder conspiracy in sometimes testy exchanges with prosecutors. Prosecutors will undoubtedly grill Wendi Adelson about what role her mother played in the post-divorce custody battle. Charlie Adelson could potentially testify for the defense as could Rob Adelson, a New York doctor who had a falling out with his family after Markel's murder. It remains unknown if Donna Adelson will testify in her own defense – a decision that proved perilous in her son's trial. Tim Jansen, a Tallahassee criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor who has watched the case closely, predicted a contentious "mud fight" between the state and defense. "They're going to fight everything," he said. "I don't think it's going to be an amicable trial. It's going to be a lot more bruising trial, really. The defense is going to try to come out strong and attack each and every witness." Contributing: C.A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
Los Angeles Times
10 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Judge denies Justice Department request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts
NEW YORK — A federal judge who presided over the sex trafficking case against financier Jeffrey Epstein has rejected the government's request to unseal grand jury transcripts. The ruling Wednesday by Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan came after the judge presiding over the case against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, also turned down the government's request. Barring reversal on appeal, Berman's decision forecloses the possibility of grand jury testimony being released now that three judges have reached the same conclusion. A federal judge in Florida declined to release grand jury documents from an investigation there in 2005 and 2007. The rulings are a collective repudiation of the Justice Department's effort to divert attention away from its stated refusal to release a massive trove of records in its possession and make clear that the still-sealed court documents contain none of the answers likely to satisfy the immense public interest in the case. President Trump had called for the release of transcripts amid rumors and criticism about his long-ago involvement with Epstein. During last year's presidential campaign, Trump promised to release files related to Epstein, but he was met with criticism — including from many of his own supporters — when the small number of records released by his Justice Department lacked new revelations. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday. Berman said the information contained in the Epstein grand jury transcripts 'pales in comparison to the Epstein investigative information and materials in the hands of the Department of Justice.' The Justice Department had informed Berman that the only witness to testify before the Epstein grand jury was an FBI agent who, the judge noted, 'had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay.' The agent testified over two days, on June 18, 2019, and July 2, 2019. The entire transcript was 70 pages. The rest of the grand jury presentation consisted of a PowerPoint slideshow shown during the June 18 session and a call log shown during the July 2 session, which ended with grand jurors voting to indict Epstein. Both of those will also remain sealed, Berman ruled. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her conviction on sex trafficking charges for helping Epstein sexually abuse girls and young women. She was recently transferred from a prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas. Epstein died in jail awaiting trial. Maxwell's case has been the subject of heightened public focus since an outcry over the Justice Department's statement last month saying that it would not be releasing any additional documents from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation. The decision infuriated online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and elements of Trump's base who had hoped to see proof of a government cover-up. Since then, officials in Trump's Republican administration have tried to cast themselves as promoting transparency in the case, including by requesting from courts the unsealing of grand jury transcripts. 'The government is the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein file,' Berman wrote in an apparent reference to the Justice Department's refusal to release additional records on its own while simultaneously moving to unseal grand jury transcripts. 'By comparison,' Berman added, 'the instant grand jury motion appears to be a 'diversion' from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the Government's possession. The grand jury testimony is merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged conduct.' Meanwhile, Maxwell was interviewed at a Florida courthouse weeks ago by Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche, and the House Oversight Committee had also said that it wanted to speak with Maxwell. Her lawyers said they would be open to an interview but only if the panel were to ensure immunity from prosecution. In a letter to Maxwell's lawyers, Rep. James Comer, the committee chair, wrote that the committee was willing to delay the deposition until after the resolution of Maxwell's appeal to the Supreme Court. That appeal is expected to be resolved in late September. Comer wrote that although Maxwell's testimony was 'vital' to the Republican-led investigation into Epstein, the committee would not provide immunity or any questions in advance of her testimony, as was requested by her team. Neumeister and Sisak write for the Associated Press. AP writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Judge denies justice department request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts
A judge who presided over the sex trafficking case against financier Jeffrey Epstein has rejected the US government's request to unseal grand jury transcripts. The ruling on Wednesday by Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan came after the judge presiding over the case against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, also turned down the government's request. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her conviction on sex trafficking charges for helping Epstein sexually abuse girls and young women. Epstein died in jail awaiting trial. A US justice department spokesperson declined to comment. Judge Berman said the information contained in the Epstein grand jury transcripts 'pales in comparison to the Epstein investigative information and materials in the hands of the Department of Justice.' According to his ruling, no victims gave evidence before the Epstein grand jury. The only witness, the judge wrote, was an FBI agent 'who had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay'. The agent gave evidence over two days, on June 18 and July 2 2019. The rest of the grand jury presentation consisted of a PowerPoint slideshow shown during the June 18 session and a call log shown during the July 2 session, which ended with grand jurors voting to indict Epstein. Both of those will also remain sealed, Judge Berman ruled. Maxwell's case has been the subject of heightened public focus since an outcry over the justice department's statement last month saying that it would not be releasing any additional documents from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation. The decision infuriated online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and elements of US President Donald Trump's base who had hoped to see proof of a government cover-up. Since then, Trump administration officials have tried to cast themselves as promoting transparency in the case, including by requesting from courts the unsealing of grand jury transcripts. 'The government is the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein file,' Judge Berman wrote in an apparent reference to the justice department's refusal to release additional records on its own while simultaneously moving to unseal grand jury transcripts. 'By comparison,' he added, 'the instant grand jury motion appears to be a 'diversion' from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the government's possession. The grand jury testimony is merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged conduct.' Meanwhile, Maxwell was interviewed at a Florida courthouse weeks ago by US deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, and the house oversight committee had also said that it wanted to speak with Maxwell. Her lawyers said they would be open to an interview but only if the panel were to ensure immunity from prosecution. In a letter Maxwell's lawyers, representative James Comer, the committee chairman, wrote that the committee was willing to delay the deposition until after the resolution of Maxwell's appeal to the Supreme Court. That appeal is expected to be resolved in late September. Mr Comer wrote that while Maxwell's testimony was 'vital' to the Republican-led investigation into Epstein, the committee would not provide immunity or any questions in advance of her testimony, as was requested by her team.
