Calgary man Allistair Chapman stays in custody as he fights U.S. extradition over alleged cartel murder plot

Allistair Chapman remains in custody in Calgary. Justice Paul Jeffrey denied him bail last month, so he stays locked up while he fights extradition to the United States.

The defence argues the alleged crimes took place entirely in Canada, and that sending Chapman to the U.S. amounts to "cherry picking" a jurisdiction with harsher punishments. Lawyer Noel O'Brien said: "It's almost a 51st 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.'" He added: "All of a sudden sovereignty is abdicated for the purpose of having a trial in a foreign jurisdiction such as the United States." The defence says none of the alleged criminal conduct occurred outside Canada, and that extradition would be an abuse of process.

Jeffrey said U.S. prosecutors have a strong case, and that while Chapman "did not pull the trigger, he knew the purpose of the work he was assigned was the murder."

U.S. authorities allege Chapman was working for Ryan Wedding, whom they describe as the alleged kingpin of a Mexico-based billion-dollar drug trafficking ring. Chapman is charged with conspiracy to commit murder. U.S. authorities also want him on conspiracy to traffic cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in narcotics.

The co-operating witness in the case, Jonathan Acebedo Garcia, was an FBI informant and would-be key U.S. prosecution witness. He was shot in the head while dining at a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, in January 2025. U.S. authorities allege Chapman helped arrange the killing by giving a co-accused Acebedo Garcia's photo and paying a website operator to post information calling him a rat. The defence calls the witness "unreliable."

Chapman was arrested a year ago alongside seven other Canadians. Wedding was taken into custody in January, arrested in Mexico last month and transferred to California; he was previously on the FBI Top 10 most-wanted list.

Calgary police once suggested Chapman led a local drug organization, but he was cleared of any criminal charges here. His 2019 drug and firearms charges were stayed in 2020 after a judge ruled the delay too long. A parallel RCMP investigation into Chapman did not result in charges in Canada. O'Brien said: "An inference to be drawn is that either the RCMP concluded that the evidence did not support the charge of conspiracy to murder against Chapman, or the police authorities 'cherry picked' the jurisdiction that would likely result in the greatest punishment."

The defence says the U.S. government is "withholding" evidence. The only disclosure so far is a 46-page record of the case prepared by American authorities, covering all eight Canadians arrested in the Wedding investigation. Only one page ties Chapman to his charge, and that paragraph does not name the murder victim or the co-operating witness. O'Brien called the attorney general's refusal to share those details "absurd."

At his bail hearing, Crown prosecutors described Chapman as a "loyal soldier" and "intermediary" in the Wedding organization and argued his parents could not control him. An earlier bail proposal of a surety from his parents, with a curfew at their home, was superseded by Jeffrey's denial.

His next Calgary court appearance is March 13.