$10 Million Reward Offered for Former Olympian on FBI's 10 Most Wanted List

Published: 3/7/2025, 11:16:22 PM EST

$10 Million Reward Offered for Former Olympian on FBI's 10 Most Wanted List — Former Olympian and Canadian national Ryan Wedding has been added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. (Courtesy of FBI)

A reward of up to $10 million is being offered for information leading to the arrest of a former Olympic athlete on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Ryan Wedding, 43, is wanted for running a transnational drug enterprise and ordering several murders, according to federal authorities.

Wedding, a Canadian national, competed in the snowboarding competition during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ryan Wedding of Canada competes in the qualifying round of the men's parallel giant slalom snowboarding event during the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games at the Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah, on Feb. 14, 2002. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images) — Ryan Wedding of Canada competes in the qualifying round of the men's parallel giant slalom snowboarding event during the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games at the Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah, on Feb. 14, 2002. Adam Pretty/Getty Images

“Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada,” Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement.

According to the FBI, Wedding’s drug trafficking network shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States.

Wedding is also wanted for allegedly orchestrating multiple murders and “an attempted murder in furtherance of these drug crimes,” the agency said.

The fugitive stands at 6 feet and three inches tall, weighs about 240 lbs., and has blue eyes and brown hair with possible facial hair. He is considered very dangerous and has several aliases including “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King.”

Federal authorities say that his placement on the FBI’s Top Ten list marks the 535th addition to the agency’s list of notorious fugitives.

Second-in-Command Indicted

In June 2024, Wedding's second-in-command, Andrew Clark, was indicted for running a criminal enterprise and committing murder in connection with drug trafficking. Clark, also a Canadian citizen, was arrested in Mexico last October. The 34-year-old was among dozens of fugitives whom U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced had arrived in the United States from Mexico last week.

Clark, along with many of the other defendants, were subject to longstanding U.S. extradition requests that were not honored during the Biden administration, Bondi said.

“As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs,” Bondi said in a statement. “We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers—and in some cases, given their lives—to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels. We will not rest until we secure justice for the American people.”

Wedding faces charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances; conspiracy to export cocaine; continuing criminal enterprise; murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime; attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.

Under the Narcotics Rewards Program, Secretary of State Marco Rubio authorized the $10 million reward for information that results in Wedding's arrest or conviction. The program helps law enforcement disrupt transnational crime globally and bring fugitives to justice.

"This reward offering supplements the FBI’s current offering of $50,000 for information leading to Wedding’s apprehension, arrest, and extradition, and further, is jointly being offered with assistance from the Canadian and Mexican governments as part of a unified effort to bring Wedding to justice," the FBI said.