In a significant development, the main witness in the trial of former Olympian Ryan Wedding, accused of leading a $1-billion drug empire, will no longer testify, raising concerns among U.S. prosecutors about witness safety. Wedding is wanted for murder and drug charges connected to a transnational criminal operation in Los Angeles. At a recent court hearing, it was disclosed that the trial relied heavily on this witness, who had previously agreed to cooperate but has now withdrawn without explanation amid fears linked to Wedding's alleged network of contract killers.
At a brief hearing Wednesday in Superior Court in Toronto, a lawyer for one of Wedding's alleged accomplices reported that the central witness would no longer be testifying at trial.
Wedding, 43, who is Canadian, faces murder and drug-related charges... where authorities say he used stash houses to move Colombian cocaine as part of a $1-billion US transnational criminal enterprise.
U.S. prosecutors previously said the cooperating witness, identified only as 'CW,' had agreed in 2023 to work with investigators.
The case against them largely relied upon the strength of a particular witness, but no explanation was given for their withdrawal from testifying.
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