Calgary man's extradition to U.S. in billion-dollar drug murder case challenged in court
Defence lawyer argues Canada is ceding sovereignty by sending Allistair Chapman to California over a murder conspiracy that allegedly took place in Canada.
Defence calls extradition record too vague to mount a proper case
A Calgary man wanted in California on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder should not be extradited because all of the alleged conduct occurred in Canada, his defence lawyer told Calgary Court of King's Bench on Thursday, calgaryherald.com reports.
Allistair Chapman is accused of involvement in the fatal shooting of FBI informant Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, who was killed in a restaurant ambush in Medellín, Colombia, in January 2025. The case is linked to the alleged drug organization of Ryan Wedding, described in court documents as a billion-dollar operation.
Defence counsel Noel O'Brien told Justice Darren Reed that sending Chapman to the United States to stand trial for conduct that occurred on Canadian soil amounted to surrendering national sovereignty.
"It's almost a fifty-first state argument when you say 'oh, we'll just give the United States the authority to conduct a trial of our citizens in its country,'" O'Brien said. He added that Canadians might be "shocked" to learn the RCMP ran a full parallel investigation into the same alleged offences and the same alleged offenders, yet the prosecution is proceeding in California.
"None of the conduct is outside of Canada and all of a sudden sovereignty is abdicated for the purpose of having a trial in a foreign jurisdiction," he said. O'Brien characterized the choice of venue as "cherry picking, forum shopping."
Record of the case called inadequate
O'Brien is seeking broader disclosure ahead of Chapman's extradition hearing. He asked Reed to order federal Department of Justice lawyers to provide additional information about the allegations against his client.
A central complaint was that the Record of the Case (ROC) — the document provided by Canadian officials acting on behalf of the United States — does not identify the alleged victim by name, referring to him only as "Victim A," even though Acebedo-Garcia has been publicly named in connection with the case.
"The whole target of the conspiracy remains unknown in the allegations," O'Brien said. "How does Mr. Chapman defend that other than by assumption."
The ROC also does not name the co-conspirators Chapman is alleged to have worked with, the lawyer said. "Conspiracy requires proof of an agreement. We do not know who the co-conspirators are, the Crown has not disclosed that."
O'Brien further noted that the ROC refers to a cooperating witness identified only as "CW," without naming him. The defence believes that individual to be Andrew Clark, formerly the second-in-command in Wedding's organization.
"In an extradition case you are entitled to know the case against you," O'Brien said. "There's an obligation for the ROC to contain a certain level of substance."
Chapman's alleged role
According to the ROC, Chapman — described as someone with connections to the drug-trafficking world who understood what happened to perceived informants — was directed by Wedding and the cooperating witness to contact the owner of an Instagram account called the Dirt News in order to post information about Acebedo-Garcia's whereabouts.
"Chapman, who has entrenchments in the drug trafficking world and understands what happens to individuals who are perceived cooperators, was aware Wedding wanted Victim A located so he could be murdered," the document states.
O'Brien argued the ROC failed to specify who Chapman is alleged to have entered into a conspiracy with, leaving the defence unable to prepare an adequate response to the charge.
Chapman remains in custody pending the outcome of his extradition hearing.
Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)