A Calgary man arrested on extradition warrants connected to accused drug kingpin Ryan Wedding is to remain behind bars.
A judge had denied bail in February for Allistair Chapman, saying U.S. prosecutors have a strong case against him and releasing him would undermine the public’s confidence in the justice system.
Chapman appealed, but Justice 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 billion-dollar international drug trafficking organization allegedly run by Wedding.
Wedding is a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder.
U.S. prosecutors allege Chapman helped arrange the killing of an FBI informant by providing the man’s photo to a co-accused and paying for it to be posted online.
Chapman’s lawyers requested the bail review, arguing the extradition request has been amended to one charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
He was originally charged with other offences including conspiracy to retaliate against a witness and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
“The remaining conspiracy to commit murder charge is very serious, carrying with it the possibility of a life sentence,” Feasby said Wednesday.
“The fact that the (authority to proceed) now identifies only conspiracy to commit murder as an analogous Canadian offence is not a material change in circumstances.”
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