Crown argues Calgary man, accused Ryan Wedding associate, should not get bail

A federal Crown lawyer says a Calgary man arrested on extradition warrants connected to an alleged Canadian drug kingpin is a “loyal soldier” and a flight risk if granted bail.

Allistair Chapman, 33, and nine others were arrested last year in an FBI investigation into the international drug trafficking organization allegedly run by Ryan Wedding.

Wedding, a former Team Canada Olympic snowboarder-turned-fugitive, has been arrested by the FBI.

U.S. prosecutors allege Chapman helped arrange the killing of a government informant by providing the man’s photo to a co-accused and paying for it to be posted online so the witness could be located before testifying. The informant was later shot dead at a restaurant in Colombia.

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“(Chapman) has been a loyal soldier to the organization,” said Anne-Renee Touchette, a lawyer for the Canadian Department of Justice.

Chapman’s lawyer is asking he be released on a $500,000 surety guaranteed by his parents, a curfew and be required to reside with his parents. He said his client has nowhere else to go and hasn’t been outside Canada for 10 years.

But Touchette said she doubts Chapman’s parents would be able to keep a close enough eye on him and said there’s a good chance he could flee the country.

“The potential of a lengthy sentence increases the flight risk. Not only that but the membership in a criminal organization increases the flight risk,” she said.

“In the allegations, what you have is a person stating he’s been part of the organization since 2020-2021.”

A number of other accused in the case have already been released on bail.