Ryan Wedding's accused Canadian money launderer agrees to U.S. extradition
Prosecutors say jeweller Rolan Sokolovski served as 'de facto bank' for alleged cocaine kingpin
A Toronto-area jeweller accused of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for Ryan Wedding's purported drug-smuggling network has agreed to be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial.
Still, Rolan Sokolovski's lawyer insists his client is presumed innocent and will fight the charges he's facing.
Lawyer Scott K. Fenton confirmed in an email to CBC News that Sokolovski appeared in a downtown Toronto court earlier Tuesday and consented to be extradited several months early. Sokolovski had been scheduled to appear for an extradition hearing in December.
"It should be noted that consenting to extradition is neither an admission of wrongdoing nor an acknowledgement of the strength of the case against him," Fenton wrote.
U.S. prosecutors allege Sokolovski served as a "de facto bank" for Wedding by moving drug money and procuring the longtime fugitive luxury goods, including an ultra-rare $13-million US Mercedes CLK-GTR Roadster.
The Lithuanian-born Sokolovski, 38, was arrested in Toronto last November, as part of the FBI and RCMP's joint takedown of Wedding's network. The former professional poker player was denied bail and has been held in custody at Ontario's Maplehurst jail.
According to court documents, Sokolovski, who went by the aliases Sushi and Applepie, is accused of using cryptocurrency platforms and his Toronto-area business, Diamond Tsar, to launder proceeds for Wedding's transnational criminal enterprise.
Sokolovski faces conspiracy charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
WATCH | Sokolovski bought an ultra-rare Mercedes, allegedly for then-fugitive Wedding: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.
Sokolovski's lawyer, Fenton said his client "is presumed innocent and intends to contest the allegations in the California courts."
The federal justice minister still must decide whether to formally surrender Sokolovski to U.S. authorities.
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The U.S. Department of Justice has, since 2024, indicted at least 34 purported members and associates of Wedding's drug ring, which authorities say moved tonnes of cocaine and fentanyl across North America and carried out dozens of killings.
Wedding, a former Team Canada Olympic snowboarder, was captured in Mexico in January and swiftly transferred to California. He remains in U.S. custody, but public prison records do not list Wedding's current whereabouts.
Among the three men arrested in Ontario last fall as part of the investigation dubbed "Operation Giant Slalom" — a nod to Wedding's previous career — Sokolovski is the first to consent to his extradition.
Gursewak Singh Bal, a Canadian crime blogger also facing U.S. federal charges in connection with the sprawling conspiracy, has an extradition hearing set for Dec. 10.
Singh Bal operated the Dirty News, a website that U.S. authorities said was used to set up the murder of Quebec-born Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, the FBI witness shot in the head while having lunch in Medellín, Colombia.
Singh Bal's lawyer Trevin David declined to comment on the case on Tuesday.
Prominent criminal lawyer Deepak Paradkar — who U.S. prosecutors allege accepted "cash drops" and a luxury watch while serving as a high-level fixer in Wedding's network — continues to fight extradition. Paradkar has denied wrongdoing and Ontario's top court rejected a bid to overturn his release on bail.
The prosecutor's office in L.A. has told CBC News that Wedding is scheduled to stand trial twice later this year, for two separate indictments filed in 2024 and 2025, while the Thunder Bay, Ont., native was considered a fugitive.
The first of two trials is currently set to begin Oct. 27.