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A Toronto-area jeweller accused of acting as the \u201cthird in command\u201d in former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding\u2019s alleged cocaine empire could be sent to California by the end of the year to stand trial.<\/p>\n
Rolan Sokolovski, who went by the aliases Sushi and Applepie, was ordered Wednesday to appear for an extradition hearing in Ontario Superior Court on Dec. 3.<\/p>\n
U.S. prosecutors allege Sokolovski served as a \u201cde facto bank\u201d for Wedding by moving hundreds of millions in drug money and procuring the longtime fugitive luxury goods, including an ultra-rare $13-million US Mercedes CLK-GTR Roadster<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 38-year-old former professional poker player appeared Wednesday before a provincial judge by video link from Maplehurst jail in Milton, Ont., where he\u2019s been detained since his arrest last November.<\/p>\n According to court documents, the Lithuanian-born Sokolovski is accused of using cryptocurrency platforms and his Toronto-area business, Diamond Tsar, to launder proceeds for Wedding\u2019s transnational criminal enterprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n WATCH | Sokolovski bought an ultra-rare Mercedes, allegedly for then-fugitive Wedding: We found out who bought a $13M Mercedes now linked to fugitive Ryan Wedding<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Sokolovski\u2019s lawyer Scott Fenton previously said the description of his client as Wedding’s third-in-command is not supported by evidence and that it amounted to “rhetorical flourish” by the Crown.<\/p>\n The criminal allegations against Sokolovski have not been proven in court.<\/p>\n Co-defendants fight extradition from Colombia and Canada<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Justice has since 2024 indicted at least 34 purported members and associates of Wedding\u2019s drug ring, which authorities say moved tonnes of cocaine and fentanyl across North America and carried out dozens of killings.<\/p>\n Wedding was captured in Mexico in January, and U.S. authorities are still pursuing efforts in multiple countries to extradite several co-defendants.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among them is a Colombian woman who authorities say ran \u201ca high-end prostitution ring\u201d in Mexico and introduced Wedding to his girlfriend.<\/p>\n Colombian court records reviewed by CBC News show Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez is being held at a Bogota jail amid allegations she used one of her sex workers to help Wedding locate the FBI\u2019s informant who was later killed.<\/p>\n The incident bears parallels to the case of another co-accused, Gurpreet Singh, who investigators suspected may be linked to an assassination plot targeting an Ontario jail official.<\/p>\n Search warrant documents<\/a> from a sweeping police corruption probe recently revealed how authorities looked into whether Singh, an alleged cocaine distributor for Wedding, and his personal acquaintance \u2013 a jail guard \u2013 were involved in the plot. Neither the woman nor Singh have been charged in connection with the alleged murder conspiracy.<\/p>\n Among the three Ontario men arrested last fall as part of the FBI and RCMP\u2019s joint takedown of Wedding\u2019s network, Sokolovski is the first to have a date set for a formal extradition hearing.<\/p>\n Gursewak Singh Bal, a Canadian crime blogger facing U.S. federal charges in connection with the sprawling conspiracy, also appeared from jail on Wednesday. His lawyer Trevin David told the downtown Toronto court the date for his client\u2019s extradition hearing would be set at the end of the month.<\/p>\n 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 Medell\u00edn, Colombia.<\/p>\n Prominent criminal lawyer Deepak Paradkar \u2013 who U.S. prosecutors allege accepted \u201ccash drops\u201d and a luxury watch while serving as a high-level fixer in Wedding\u2019s network \u2013 continues to fight extradition. He has denied wrongdoing and Ontario\u2019s top court recently rejected<\/a> a bid to overturn Paradkar\u2019s release on bail.<\/p>\n Similarities but no direct link to Bishnoi gang case: FBI<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765593312_77_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783587387_922_default.jpg\")
From left, Deepak Paradkar, Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez and Gursewak Singh Bal are among the co-defendants charged in a 2025 U.S. federal grand jury indictment in connection with Wedding’s alleged cocaine empire. (The Canadian Press, U.S. Treasury Department, Ontario Superior Court of Justice)<\/p>\n![\"Brown](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783587388_84_default.jpg\")
A 2025 grand jury indictment includes images of colourfully packaged cocaine bricks, allegedly linked to Wedding’s network. (U.S. District Court, Central District of California)<\/p>\n
![\"Officers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783587388_251_default.jpg\")
Heavily armed officers carried out multiple arrests in southern California on July 7 in connection with the FBI’s Operation Hard Ball. (FBI)<\/p>\n