Calgary man charged in Ryan Wedding case loses parole hearing

Calgary man arrested on extradition warrant related to drug charge Ryan wedding is to stay behind bars.

A judge had denied bail in February for Alistair Chapmansaying US prosecutors have a strong case against him and his release would undermine public confidence in the justice system.

Chapman appealed, but Judge Colin Feasby says the original decision to deny bail was correct.

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Chapman and nine others were arrested last year in an FBI investigation into a multibillion-dollar international drug-trafficking organization allegedly run by Wedding.

Wedding is a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder.

US prosecutors allege Chapman helped orchestrate the killing of an FBI informant by providing the man’s photograph to a co-defendant and paying for it to be posted online.

Chapman’s lawyers asked for a bail review, arguing that the extradition request was changed to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

He was initially charged with other offenses, including conspiracy to retaliate against a witness and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

“The remaining conspiracy to commit murder charges are very serious, carrying the possibility of a life sentence,” Feasby said Wednesday.

“The fact that (the authority to proceed) now only identifies conspiracy to commit murder as an analogous Canadian offense is not a material change in the circumstances.”