LAWYER Deepak Paradkar, 62, has been granted bail by an Ontario Superior Court judge.

The FBI announced last month that the U.S. had raised the reward to $15 million USD for Canadian narcotics trafficker Ryan Wedding, who, in new indictments, was accused of ordering the murder of a federal witness—who was executed with five bullets to the head earlier this year—before he could testify against Wedding. Among seven subjects arrested in November in Canada was Wedding’s attorney, Paradkar, who allegedly recommended to Wedding that he have the witness murdered, the FBI said.

Justice Peter Bawden said the case for extradition is strong and the granting of bail is not a reflection of the overall case. But he said the lawyer’s life could be in endangered in jail. Paradkar has diabetes and cardiac conditions. Also, Wedding’s organization is known for using violence against suspected members who get arrested.

Bawden said: “The troubling reality is that these individuals are more likely to kill Mr. Paradkar to prevent him from becoming a cooperating witness than to protect him in exchange for silence. The most compelling reason to believe Mr. Paradkar will attend court and comply with house arrest bail terms is that it may be the only way to stay alive.”

Crown lawyers had argued for denial of bail for Paradkar, saying that he was a dangerous man and a flight risk.

But the judge said he found it very unlikely that Paradkar would go underground.

Bawden said: “In the unlikely event that he did successfully flee, he would spend the rest of his life as a fugitive from justice, separated from his wife and unable to play any part in the lives of his two daughters.”

He added: “Every indication is that Mr. Paradkar is a devoted husband and father. I cannot conceive that a 62-year-old man with serious health concerns would sacrifice the most precious relationships of his life to become a fugitive.”

According to a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice, “Paradkar, a criminal barrister … advised Wedding to murder the victim so that Wedding would avoid extradition to the United States from Mexico on the 2024 federal criminal charges against him. Paradkar also provided Wedding with court documents and discovery to which he would not otherwise have access, and – through attorneys whose representation he secured – access to enterprise members and associates who either were arrested, indicted, or under investigation.”

Wedding, who is on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, is a snowboarder who represented Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. After his snowboarding career, Wedding turned to a life of crime as a transnational narcotics trafficker.

Earlier this month, the American authorities released new photos of Wedding. The FBI said on its X account that the photo they released is believed to have been taken in Mexico during the summer of 2025. Also, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico in a video posted on its Facebook Page and X account showed another newly obtained photo of Wedding.

In a November 19 press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., officials from the U.S. and Canada described Wedding as a narco-trafficker on par with notorious drug lords like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Pablo Escobar. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wedding’s operation was responsible for more than $1 billion a year in illegal drug proceeds.

The FBI said Wedding is wanted for allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada, and other locations in the United States. Additionally, it is alleged that Wedding was involved in orchestrating multiple murders in furtherance of these drug crimes.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.