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An Ontario lawyer accused by American authorities of advising a Canadian Olympian-turned-alleged-cocaine kingpin has had his law licence suspended.
A three-member hearing panel of the Law Society Tribunal moved Friday to suspend Deepak Paradkar’s ability to practice law in Ontario immediately, adding it would release its reasonings in the coming days.
Ravin Pillay, who represented Paradkar at the hearing, said they wouldn’t be contesting the Law Society of Ontario’s (LSO) motion that was filed on Nov. 26. Pillay stressed his client denies the allegations against him and maintains his innocence.
“The responding party is facing very serious criminal charges in the United States of America involving conspiracy to murder a witness, conspiracy to export and distribute cocaine, and engaging in a criminal enterprise,” the motion brought forward by the LSO, which regulates the profession in the province, states.
“There are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a significant risk of harm to members of the public, or to the public interest in the administration of justice, if the order is not made and that making the order is likely to reduce the risk.”
Paradkar, who went by several aliases including the “cocaine lawyer,” according to the U.S. Justice Department, was arrested and charged last month in connection to Ryan Wedding’s alleged drug empire.
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The 44-year-old Wedding, a snowboarder who was living in Coquitlam, B.C., when he suited up for his country at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list earlier this year.
FBI Director Kash Patel described Wedding last month as a “modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar.” Wedding, who is facing several murder and drug charges, is reportedly living in Mexico and has ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s largest drug trafficking organizations, which has been listed as a foreign terrorist organization in the U.S. and Canada.
Paradkar, 62, is accused of advising Wedding to murder a key witness so that he and Andrew Clark, his reported second-in-command, would avoid extradition from Mexico on 2024 criminal charges against them.
Paradkar is also accused of providing Wedding with court documents and evidentiary materials from the criminal case they would not otherwise have access to.
On Jan. 31, the witness was shot five times while at a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia, and died instantly, according to a recently unsealed indictment.
The allegations against Paradkar have not been tested in court.
Paradkar was among seven Canadians with alleged ties to Wedding who were arrested last month, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said at a Nov. 19 news conference. Paradkar put up “a little bit of resistance” to the arresting officers, said Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, at that same news conference.
Paradkar and the seven Canadians, who were arrested in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, are currently awaiting extradition to the U.S.
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