Olympian Turned Cocaine Kingpin Ordered Murder Of Witness: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA — An Olympic snowboarder accused of building a drug trafficking network by shipping more than a 1,000 pounds of cocaine through the Southland is facing new charges in connection with the killing of a federal witness, authorities announced Wednesday.

Ryan James Wedding, 43, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King" is among 11 defendants charged in a federal grand jury indictment that was unsealed Wednesday.

Wedding was charged in 2024 with running a drug ring that moves some 60 tons of cocaine a year using long-haul semi trucks to bring the drugs between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California and Canada.

Wedding remains at large: The former Olympian was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list earlier this year. The 10 other defendants have been arrested, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday.

The indictment accuses Wedding of orchestrating the January killing of a witness in Colombia to help Wedding avoid extradition to the U.S.

The witness, Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, was shot and killed in a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia. Acebedo-Garcia was a witness in a 2024 federal narcotics case against Wedding, KTLA reported.

“Wedding placed the bounty on the victim’s head, and the erroneous belief that the victim’s death would result in the dismissal of criminal charges against him and his international drug trafficking ring, and would further ensure that he was not extradited to the United States. He was wrong.” said Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor for the Central District of California.

Authorities are now offering up to $15 million for information leading to his attest. He’s believed to be living in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel, whom authorities say he’s working with closely to funnel massive quantities of drugs into Canada and the U.S.

The drugs came from Mexico and were held in Los Angeles stash houses before couriers took them to Canada in long-haul semi-trucks run, prosecutors claim.

Wedding competed in the Giant Slalom snowboarding competition in the 2002 Olympics.

• Read Patch's in-depth reporting on how Wedding came to be accused of unleashing "an avalanche of death and destruction."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.