Canada is taking steps to prevent three individuals linked to Ryan Wedding’s drug-trafficking network from being granted bail, as revealed in a Toronto court session. Gursewak Singh Bal, Deepak Balwant Paradkar, and Rolan Sokolovski were apprehended in Ontario and are facing extradition to the U.S. for their alleged involvement in the drug ring.
During a virtual hearing at the Superior Court of Justice, Marin Nati, representing the Department of Justice Canada, stated opposition to the release of all three individuals. Bal, accused by U.S. prosecutors of facilitating the assassination of an FBI witness, participated in the hearing via video from a jail in Kawartha Lakes, Ont. Prior to his arrest, Bal disclosed to CBC News that he had accepted a significant sum to keep quiet about Wedding.
Paradkar, a prominent lawyer in the Toronto area, allegedly advised Wedding on the witness’s murder, while Sokolovski, a local jeweler and professional poker player, is accused of money laundering on behalf of Wedding. Neither Paradkar nor Sokolovski were present at the hearing.
Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder for Team Canada, is wanted by the FBI for allegedly operating a drug-smuggling enterprise in Mexico. He has been evading authorities since 2015 when he was charged by the RCMP in a drug-importation scheme.
Following recent arrests by the U.S. Department of Justice, indictments were unsealed naming Wedding and several others from Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and Colombia. The U.S. Attorney General described Wedding as controlling a significant drug trafficking organization and collaborating closely with the Sinaloa Cartel.
New charges were announced in California against Wedding and his associates, including cocaine trafficking, money laundering, and the murder of Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, a drug trafficker who agreed to testify against Wedding and was killed in Colombia. Bal, Paradkar, and Sokolovski are currently held in different Ontario jails, with their lawyers advocating for bail.
Paradkar and Sokolovski are scheduled for bail hearings on December 10 and 11, respectively, while Bal will appear on December 17 to set a bail hearing date. The case details are not intended to be discussed publicly while under court consideration, as stated by Sokolovski’s lawyer.
Additional individuals connected to Wedding’s criminal network have been arrested previously and remain in custody. The extradition process for each defendant to stand trial in Los Angeles is subject to Canadian court evaluation, which can prolong over several months. Malik Damion Cunningham, a co-defendant charged with a murder in Niagara Falls on behalf of Wedding’s network, is set for a formal extradition hearing in January after being detained in Ontario for over a year.