‘Cocaine lawyer,’ jeweller and blogger: Seven Canadians charged by U.S. authorities

WASHINGTON — Seven Canadians were charged for extradition to the United States, with U.S. law enforcement alleging they were part of Canadian Olympic snowboarder-turned-fugitive Ryan Wedding’s intercontinental drug smuggling ring.

Wedding is on the FBI’s most wanted list and was described by U.S. law enforcement as a modern-day Pablo Escobar — referencing the notorious Colombian drug lord.

Wedding is believed to be on the lam in Mexico but law enforcement said the web of his drug smuggling enterprise included a lawyer, a poker player and a Reggaeton artist in Canada.

RCMP arrested the Canadians this week in multiple provinces. The allegations against them have not been tested in Canadian courts, which will ultimately be tasked with looking at the extradition requests.

Ontario’s Deepak Balwant Paradkar, 62, received criticism from U.S. officials who allege the longtime lawyer from Thornhill gave advice to Wedding about the murder of a federal witness.

“His lawyer told him, ‘If you kill this witness, the case would be dismissed,'” said Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, on Wednesday in Washington. “That lawyer is now in custody, and he’ll be extradited and brought to justice here in the United States.”

Paradkar is also facing sanctions. The U.S. Treasury Department alleges the lawyer introduced Wedding to drug traffickers who moved product through North America. It also alleges he let Wedding eavesdrop on calls with other clients, including those the former athlete had ill intentions toward.

Paradkar was paid with luxury watches and additional fees, the department said.

The indictment notes another name for Paradkar is “cocaine_lawyer” — referencing the lawyer’s previous handle on social media.

A 2017 Toronto Sun article described how Paradkar would post on social media about drug cases, expensive Louboutin shoes and fancy cars. The article cites an Instagram post of the lawyer’s yellow Lamborghini with Paradkar commenting: “Cocaine pays lol!!!”

U.S. law enforcement has also charged 37-year-old Rolan Sokolovski of Toronto, alleging he laundered drug proceeds and acquired luxury items for Wedding.

The indictment said Sokolovski, a dual Lithuanian-Canadian citizen, is also a professional poker player, jeweller, and procurer. Online records from the World Series of Poker show Sokolovski played in three tournaments, taking home US$24,071 in total earnings from 2013 to 2015.

Sokolovski is also facing sanctions with the U.S. Treasury Department alleging he oversaw bookkeeping for the criminal enterprise and laundered funds through his jewelry business, which operates under the name “Diamond Tsar” and has a storefront in Toronto.

The department alleges Sokolovski transferred millions of dollars in drug money using cryptocurrency.

Court documents allege that Sokolovski made a “bejewelled necklace” as payment for a murder.

That necklace went to Atna Ohna, whom the indictment described as “a hired sicario,” or hitman. Court documents allege the 40-year-old from Laval, Que., helped facilitate the murder of a federal witness by providing identifying information to Wedding.

Documents allege he also received approximately $150,000 and 30 kilograms of cocaine as payment.

U.S. authorities also allege Edwin Basora-Hernandez helped provide information that led to the federal witness’s murder. The indictment said the 31-year-old from Montreal, who is a Dominican citizen and resident of Canada, was paid between $500 and $1,000 for the victim’s cellphone number and email address.

U.S. authorities said Basora-Hernandez is a Reggaeton artist who goes by the name Ed Winter. Online information from non-profit Frikiton said Ed Winter played many venues in Montreal and had more than 500,000 listens on Spotify.

The Canadian-based website “The Dirty News” was also connected to the federal witness’s murder. U.S. authorities allege co-founder Gursewak Singh Bal, 31, of Mississauga, Ont., agreed not to post about Wedding in exchange for $10,000, and instead posted a photo of the witness before his murder.

The indictment said that post on social media said the witness ratted (using a rat emoji) out one of the strongest underworld networks, adding “good chance he’ll never be seen.” Another post included a picture of the witness and his spouse, calling him a snitch and seeking out his location.

U.S. authorities seized the website Tuesday and it no longer exists. CBC News reports that in June the website’s X account posted a video showing Canadian money and a bottle of champagne, with the caption: “Ryan James Wedding a.k.a. SnowBoarder pays his TPs really well.” In U.S. court documents, TP refers to Canadian drug transportation networks.

Two people in Alberta were also charged for their connection to the witness’s murder and Wedding’s drug trafficking ring.

The indictment said 33-year-old Allistair Chapman of Calgary paid Bal to not post about Wedding on “The Dirty News,” and provided the website with the photo of the witness who was eventually murdered.

The indictment said 35-year-old Ahmad Nabil Zitoun from Edmonton also tried to locate the federal witness in Colombia and Saudi Arabia.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2025.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press