U.S. charges Olympian in slaying

Ex-snowboarder Ryan Wedding is accused of ordering the killing of a witness in drug case.

- By Brittny MEJIA

AN AIDE displays a poster with photos of Ryan Wedding at a news conference in Washington, D.C., this week.

(ANDREW HARNIK Getty Images)

A former Olympic snowboarder who allegedly became the head of a billion-dollar drug trafficking organization has been charged with ordering the murder of a witness against him earlier this year, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

Authorities said Ryan Wedding, a Canadian who is on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, issued an order to kill a witness in a 2024 federal narcotics case against him.

The order resulted in the victim being shot to death in a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, in January, prosecutors said.

Wedding, 44, is believed to be a fugitive in Mexico. He is charged in the nine-count indictment with overseeing the operations of a violent and lucrative criminal enterprise, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A.