Avalanche of Charges for Former Olympic Snowboarder Turned Cocaine Kingpin | Crime Alert 6AM 11.28.25

The FBI announces a new superseding indictment against Ryan Wedding, alleging the former Olympic snowboarder had a federal witness killed in the hopes the numerous charges against him would be dropped. An Illinois man is facing charges after allegedly grooming and sexually assaulting an adopted 14-year-old family member before strangling her dead. Sydney Sumner reports. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alart hourly update breaking crime news.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Now.

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Former Olympic snowboarder accused of overseeing a massive drug trafficking
ring and orchestrating the murder of a witness. Feds allege
Ryan James Wedding, who repped Canada in the Winter Olympics
Salt Lake City, put a hit on a federal witness.
After being indicted, Wedding makes it to the FBI's ten

(00:24):
Most Wanted Fugitives list, authorities offering fifteen million dollars for
info leading to his capture.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
I'm Sidney Sumner. Ryan Wedding, whose aliases include el Hefe,
Giant Public Enemy, James Conrad King, and Jesse King, is
wanted for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking network that
routinely shift hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Columbia to
Canada and other locations in the United States, and for

(00:55):
orchestrating multiple murders and furtherance of these drug crimes. The
latest super indictment against Wedding and thirty six co conspirators
alleges he killed a federal witness in June twenty twenty four.
Wedding and his second in command Andrew Clark, thirty four,
were charged in an indictment out of the Central District
of California with running a continuing criminal enterprise, committing murder

(01:18):
in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise, and conspired to possess, distribute,
and export cocaine. Clark, who was arrested last October by
Mexican authorities, was among the twenty nine fugitives who arrived
in the United States for Mexico in March of this year.
In September twenty twenty four, a federal grand jury returned
to superseding indictment, naming fourteen additional defendants and including, among

(01:41):
other counts, an attempted murder charge against wedding In Clark.
The superseding indictment alleges that Wedding, Clark, and others conspired
to ship bulk quantities of cocaine weighing hundreds of kilograms
from southern California to Canada through a Canada based drug
transportation network run by Hardeep Wrought forty six and Gerpete
Singh thirty one, both from Ontario, Canada, from approximately January

(02:05):
twenty twenty four to August twenty twenty four. The cocaine
shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area,
where the cocaine trafficking organization's operatives stored the cocaine in
stash houses before delivering it to the Transportation Network couriers
for delivery to Canada using long haul semi trucks. The
September indictment also alleges that Wedding in Clark's organization resorted

(02:27):
to violence, including multiple murders, to achieve its aims. Wedding
and Clark allegedly directed the November twentieth, twenty twenty three
murders of two members of a family in Ontario in
retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through southern California.
Wedding and Clark allegedly also ordered the murder of another
victim on May eighteenth, twenty twenty four, over a drug debt.

(02:48):
In addition, Clark and Malik Damian Cunningham twenty three, a
dual Canadian American citizen, are charged with the April first,
twenty twenty four murder of another victim in Ontario. In
new and detments announced last week, Wedding is accused of
ordering the murder of a federal witness who was executed
with five bullets to the head earlier this year before
he could testify against Wedding. Among several subjects arrested in

(03:12):
Canada just ahead of the indictment was Wedding's attorney, Depak
perod Car, who allegedly recommended to Wedding that he have
the witness murdered. The FBI urges anyone with information as
to weddings whereabouts to contact their local FBI office, the
nearest American embassy or consulate, or submit a tip online
at tips dot FBI dot gov. Investigators believe that Wedding

(03:34):
is residing in Mexico, but have not ruled out his
presence in the United States, Canada, Columbia, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica,
or elsewhere. More crime and justice news after this. An
Illinois man is facing charges after allegedly grooming and sexually
assaulting a fourteen year old girl before killing her. According

(03:55):
to the Vandalia Police Department, Kylie Toberman disappeared on the
morning of November fourteenth. Later that afternoon, police found her body.
Police arrested Arnold Rivera, forty three, in connection with Kylie's
death on November sixteenth. It's believed that Kylie and Rivera
were in a car together and at some point he
sexually assaulted the young teen. State attorney Brenda Matisse alleged

(04:18):
that Rivera then strangled Kylie with jumper cables. He then
put her body in a tote and hid it in
an RV. Police found the RV in Vandalia, behind the
house where Kayley reportedly lived with her adoptive mother, Donna
Toberman sixty five. Toberman is Rivera's mother and Rivera was
considered to be Kylie's step uncle. Tooberman is separately facing

(04:39):
four charges of unlawful possession of a firearm. Court records
indicate that Rivera has a criminal history that includes dismissed
charges of criminal sexual abuse involving a child between the
ages of nine and sixteen, as well as burglary. The
charges were dismissed in exchange for a guilty plea to
felony aggravated batteries. The felony charge resulted in thirty one

(05:00):
months of probation that ended in March twenty twenty three.
In two thousand and eight, Rivera received twenty four months
of probation for possession of a stolen vehicle. Rivera's estranged wife,
Paige Stone, said he manipulated her when she was a minor.
Stone said, I was fourteen when I met that man.
I was the babysitter. He was married with two kids. Meanwhile,

(05:21):
Kylie's biological mother, Megan Zeller, described her daughter as brilliant
and sassy. She loved animals and her sisters. The junior
high student had just been deemed most improved wrestler by
her team. Kylie's friend since preschool, Caitlin Schellenberger, called the
loss of her friend unimaginable, saying it broke my heart
because she was the sweetest, kindest person, and she had

(05:43):
so much life left to live. She was only fourteen.
Rivera remains behind bars without bond. For the latest crime
and justice breaking news, be sure to follow the Crime
Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app with this
crime Alert. I'm Sidney Sumner.