On January 22, 2026, Ryan James Wedding, former Canadian Olympian, was taken into custody by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation for severe drug charges. He was transported from Mexico to the United States of America, and is to be tried in Santa Ana, California.
Ryan James Wedding, 44 years old, was born in Thunder Bay, Canada, and would later compete in the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah. He participated in snowboarding for the Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom, where he finished 24th out of 32. Approximately 6 years later, Wedding would be arrested. 2 years later he was convicted for “attempting to buy cocaine from a US government agent” (Olympics). He was sentenced to 4 years in prison. During his time in prison, he officially married Miryam Andrea Castillo Moreno in Texas.
Following his conviction, he’s unlikely to ever be permitted to compete in the Olympics as a professional athlete again.
In the years following, the FBI would be searching for Wedding as he was “allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada, and other locations in the United States” (FBI).
This would land Wedding a perfect score onto the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List on March 6, 2025. The United States Department of State’s Narcotics Rewards Program proposed a reward of up to $15 million U.S. dollars for any information leading to the arrest of Wedding or assisting in his conviction.
The FBI would officially release his crimes as “Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine; Conspiracy to Export Cocaine; Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Connection with a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Drug Crime and Murder in Connection with a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Drug Crime; Conspiracy to Tamper with a Witness, Victim, or Informant, and Tampering with a Witness, Victim, or Informant; Conspiracy to Retaliate Against a Witness, Victim, or Informant and Retaliation Against a Witness, Victim, or Informant; Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments” (FBI).
Wedding was alleged to be one of the most notorious drug lords following El Chapo’s footsteps. He would be known as ames Conrad King, Jesse King, “Giant”, “Public Enemy”, “Boss”, “Buddy”, “Grande”, “El Jefe”, “El Guerro”, “El Toro” (FBI).
Over the years he would be alleged to commit several crimes throughout several different countries. He would be joined by a variety of accomplices and his girlfriend, Daniela Alejandra Acuna Macias.
With much effort, Wedding was taken into custody on January 22, 2026 on U.S. soil after surrendering to Mexican authorities and will be standing trial in Santa Ana, California, with attorney Anthony Edward Colombo Jr. standing beside him in front of Judge John D. Early.
Attorney Colombo passed the bar exam certifying him as an attorney on January 4, 2002. He has been an active attorney for the past 24 years, based in San Diego. Colombo owns the Law Offices of Anthony E. Colombo Jr. where he specializes in high profile criminal cases, like Wedding’s.
Judge John D. Early graduated from University of California, Los Angeles School of Law with a Juris Doctor. Later, he would graduate again from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. Magna Cum Laude. He began practicing law as an attorney in the years following 2005, where he would eventually open his own practice “representing clients in government investigations and complex civil litigation, including intellectual property, securities, and unfair competition disputes.” With time, he was sworn in as a Judge on February 22, 2017. Magistrate Judge John D. Early now serves the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse, Santa Ana, Courtroom 6A, 6th Floor. (United States District Court, Central District of California).
Ryan Wedding now awaits trial in a Santa Ana jail, where his attorneys are working hard to prove his innocence and where the defense attorneys are working just as hard to prove his guilt.
