After years in the spotlight serving as a defence lawyer for some of southern Ontario’s biggest criminal cases, a well-known Greater Toronto Area attorney is now facing charges linked to a massive cocaine smuggling ring.
Brampton criminal lawyer Deepak Paradkar is one of seven Canadians arrested in connection with alleged drug lord Ryan Wedding’s criminal enterprise and the death of an FBI witness.
Paradkar — who as recently as a week ago appears to have still been actively responding to Google reviews for his legal practice — was arrested by the RCMP on Tuesday after “a little bit of resistance,” said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi at a news conference Wednesday.
She said the lawyer is now facing extradition to the United States to face charges in the Central District of California, as stated in a U.S. federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Paradkar — also referenced in the U.S. indictment as the “cocaine_lawyer” based on his former social media handle — is facing allegations of advising Wedding and “his second-in-command,” Andrew Clark, to murder an FBI witness to “avoid extradition from Mexico” in another criminal case.
Wedding, an ex-Canadian Olympian from Thunder Bay, Ont., is listed as one of the FBI’s 10 most-wanted fugitives. He is accused, according to the indictment, of offering “a multi-million-dollar bounty” for the death of an FBI witness, who was gunned down in Medellin, Colombia in January this year.
The witness was meant to testify against Wedding in a separate case, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme, appearing alongside U.S. law enforcement in Washington on Wednesday, took a question about the arrest of people in Canada with alleged ties to Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder wanted in the U.S. on allegations of murder and drug trafficking.
The indictment also alleges Paradkar provided Wedding and Clark with court documents and access to individuals “either arrested, indicted or under investigation” through attorneys he secured to represent them.
“The murder of a witness in Colombia earlier this year was a cruel, cold-blooded act that could not and did not go unanswered,” said Bill Essayli, assistant of the Central District of California.
“This week’s arrests underscore our resolve to root out and punish the wrongdoers involved in this criminal organization and serve as a warning for drug lord Ryan Wedding: If convicted, you will never see the outside of a prison ever again.”
The arrested Canadians are facing several charges, including conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking, said Michael Duheme, RCMP commissioner.
Duheme said he’s unsure of the timeline of the U.S. extraditions as the cases are “before the courts.”
Paradkar ‘is an interesting person’: lawyer
Paradkar is well known in Ontario legal circles and has been practicing law in the province for decades. It was not uncommon for him to give lengthy interviews with reporters outside courthouses during high-profile trials, answering questions before a line of cameras.
Lawyer Gary Batasar told CBC News Wednesday that Paradkar “is an interesting person” who “liked his nice cars and suits and watches.”
Batasar said the GTA’s small criminal law community was in shock upon hearing of his arrest.
“As a good criminal lawyer, everybody is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The allegations are very serious,” he said.
“Our goal is to defend our clients, but there are limitations on the defence of a client.”
Up until 2017, Paradkar’s Instagram handle was “@cocaine_lawyer.” A Toronto Sun story detailed some of the posts from his account around that time, like a shot of his yellow Lamborghini with the comment: “Cocaine pays lol!!!” as well as photos of police-seized drugs and guns with the caption, “100 kilos of K 4 kilos of cocaine, 5 guns, Uzi, glock — NOT GUILTY!”
Paradkar was once slated to represent serial killer Dellen Millard in the Tim Bosma murder case, before abruptly dropping out in 2016.
Court documents from that trial later revealed that Paradkar was linked to the smuggling of clandestine letters Millard sent from jail to his girlfriend in an effort to sway witnesses.
Paradkar denied involvement in those allegations and was not charged with any crime, but was directly named in court documents and on envelopes that were found linked to the case. Paradkar never publicly disclosed why he walked away from the trial, and when asked by a reporter in 2017, he simply responded in a text message, “retainer.”
Dellen Millard’s lawyer, Deepak Paradkar, talks about his client and the charges he faces in the death of Timothy Bosma.
That same year, Paradkar had “a discussion” with the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) over social media content that “was not appropriate,” according to a regulatory notice on the society’s website.
It said members of an LSO committee concluded that Paradkar was “unlikely to conduct himself similarly in the future” and decided not to pursue further action.
Asked about Paradkar’s arrest and current status as a lawyer, the LSO said it would have its own investigation and public regulatory proceedings if a lawyer or paralegal is charged or convicted of a serious offence.
“The LSO considers the risks to the public, public confidence, and the administration of justice,” said the organization in an emailed statement.
Innocent until proven guilty
Boris Bytensky, president of the Ontario’s Criminal Lawyers’ Association, said he’s never heard of a situation like this in the province.
“In the course of acting as a lawyer, he’s being accused of crossing lines and breaking the law. So that is very unusual,” he said.
Bytensky said it’s important for people to understand that criminal lawyers “are not extensions” of their clients, especially those who practice “within the boundaries of their ethical obligations.”
He also says that while government officials and police may announce arrests and investigations “in very strong language … about the strength of the case,” the truth might be very different depending on the evidence that emerges in a courtroom.
“So all of us need to bear that in mind, not rush to judgment about anybody’s guilt,” he said.
A news release from the U.S. Department of Justice also mentions immigration action being taken against “associates of Wedding’s enterprise,” which includes Paradkar’s 27-year-old daughter who is a U.S.-based lawyer in Chicago.
There has been no information tying Paradkar’s daughter to any of the criminal proceedings.
Ontario Provincial Police have also alleged Wedding and another Canadian directed the Nov. 20, 2023 killings of two members of a family in Caledon, Ont. Police have said the family was targeted mistakenly.
Police have also linked two murder investigations in Ontario’s Niagara and Peel regions last year to the alleged drug ring.
