GTA lawyer Deepak Paradkar has asked for 24/7 house arrest secured by $5 million
Paradkar is alleged to have instructed his client, former Olympian Ryan Wedding, to have a key witness killed
Deepak Paradkar, the Thornhill lawyer who is alleged to have advised his client, alleged drug lord Ryan Wedding, that the murder of a key witness would benefit his case, has asked the Ontario Superior Court to let him live on 24/7 house arrest as he faces extradition to the United States.
Related: The Law Society of Ontario has begun proceedings to suspend Deepak Paradkar’s licence
At a bail hearing today, Paradkar outlined his proposed conditions, which would include not leaving his home unless accompanied by one of his sureties and not being permitted to use any electronic devices except for his wife’s cellphone, which he would use only in her presence for predetermined specific purposes. He also said that he would surrender his passport to the RCMP and remain under GPS surveillance, according to the Canadian Press.
Paradkar told the hearing that he and his wife would each pledge $2.5 million, almost the entirety of their assets, he claimed, to secure the conditions.
Paradkar was arrested last month in connection with what the US Department of Justice has dubbed Operation Giant Slalom. His client, Wedding, remains at large.
Related: The story of Ryan Wedding, Canada’s Olympic snowboarder turned drug lord
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
