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A federal Crown lawyer has told an Ontario court that Rolan Sokolovski acted as the “third in command” in fugitive Ryan Wedding’s alleged transnational criminal enterprise.
It’s the first time Sokolovski, a Toronto jeweller arrested in November, is identified as such a high-ranking member of the drug-trafficking network.
Sokolovski’s lawyers argued in a Toronto courtroom Wednesday that he wouldn’t pose a flight risk if released on bail. He faces extradition to California on federal conspiracy charges related to money laundering and cocaine trafficking.
U.S. prosecutors have previously accused Sokolovski of being a primary money launderer and “de facto bank” for Wedding’s alleged drug-trafficking organization, which is said to have generated $1 billion US in annual revenues.
At his bail hearing Wednesday afternoon, Department of Justice (DOJ) Canada lawyer Heather Graham said the 37-year-old could be described as the “right-hand man” for Wedding’s top lieutenant, Andrew Clark.
Clark, a former Toronto-area resident who went by the alias “Dictator,” was arrested in 2024 in Mexico. U.S. prosecutors have described him as Wedding’s “second-in-command.”
Sokolovski “was the one in control” of the criminal organization’s finances, Graham told Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden. “He was the money mover.”
Defence says allegation not supported by evidence
According to court documents, Sokolovski is alleged to have laundered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of the Wedding criminal enterprise. He’s also accused of designing a bejewelled necklace for Atna Ohna, a Montreal-based alleged hitman for Wedding’s network, as a reward for his purported role in the murder of an FBI witness.
Graham, the DOJ Canada lawyer, pointed to an Oct. 2024 text message exchange between Clark and Sokolovski, as described in an RCMP affidavit.
Clark said his cryptocurrency wallet had been blacklisted and “directed Sokolovski to change everyone’s wallets as soon as possible,” according to the affidavit from RCMP Cpl. Geneviève Laurin. “Sokolovski confirmed that he would.”
Graham said the exchange illustrates Sokolovski had control over the cryptocurrency wallets of multiple co-conspirators.
Sokolovski’s lawyer Scott Fenton has underlined in court that the allegations against his client have not been proven. He said Sokolovski is not a flight risk.
Fenton said the description of his client as Wedding’s third-in-command amounted to “rhetorical flourish” by the Crown and is not supported by evidence before the court. Fenton added that it’s “dead wrong” that his client would have access to “untold millions” if released on bail.
The judge is expected to make a decision on Sokolovski’s bail request on Feb. 20.
Sokolovski is one of eight Canadians arrested in November as part of an ongoing investigation targeting fugitive Ryan Wedding, a former Team Canada snowboarder now allegedly running a billion-dollar drug trafficking network.
Alleged flight risk
In a letter last month, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged the 37-year-old has “tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency and physical assets at his disposal,” and poses a flight risk as well as a danger to the public.
Prosecutors in Toronto pressed Sokolovski on his finances last week, and questioned the four people proposing to supervise him if he is released on bail.
The identities of the proposed sureties are protected under a publication ban meant to reduce the risk to their safety.
Sokolovski’s legal team is proposing to have him live with three of his sureties if released on bail, and be placed on house arrest with round-the-clock GPS monitoring. Other conditions include remaining in Ontario, turning in his passport and not communicating with any of his co-accused.
Wedding, who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics, was added to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most-wanted list last year.
As the FBI continues its hunt for Ryan Wedding, the former Olympian turned alleged cocaine kingpin, CBC News has learned how he may have used a $13-million US Mercedes as part of a global money laundering scheme.
His organization is alleged to have transported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Canada by way of Mexico and the U.S.
Wedding and his second-in-command are also accused of taking out hits on people they perceived as a threat to the organization’s operations.
