Prosecutors want Deepak Paradkar’s bail conditions overturned
They argue that the defence lawyer who allegedly advised Ryan Wedding to kill a witness should have to remain in custody
Thornhill defence lawyer Deepak Paradkar, who is accused of advising his former client, Ryan Wedding, to have a key witness murdered, was released last year under conditions that include 24/7 house arrest and $5 million bail.
But today, lawyers representing the Attorney General of Canada will ask Ontario’s Court of Appeal to reverse that decision, and order that Paradkar instead be detained until his extradition hearing. (Paradkar faces extradition to the US.)
Related: Is there a connection between Ryan Wedding and Project South?
In court documents reviewed by the Canadian Press, the Crown says Paradkar should not be permitted to remain at home in order to “salvage the public’s confidence in the administration of justice, to protect the public and to ensure that Canada’s ability to comply with treaty obligations in this important case is not frustrated.”
Paradkar is also accused of introducing Wedding, the former Olympian turned alleged drug lord, to drug traffickers for the purpose of organizing shipments throughout North America.
He was arrested last year as part of a major FBI investigation.
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.
