A man from the Toronto area, known as “Russian” or “George,” has been sentenced to 68 months in a U.S. prison for smuggling cocaine for a drug network linked to former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding. Rakhim Ibragimov, originally from Uzbekistan, pleaded guilty to intending to distribute 375 kilograms of cocaine with the aim of transporting it to Canada, as per a plea agreement filed in a California federal court.
The sentencing, delivered by U.S. federal Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, includes three years of supervised release with conditions such as drug testing and substance abuse counseling. Ibragimov was apprehended by U.S. authorities in April 2024 after traveling from Canada to California to oversee a drug shipment. He was initially detained, allowed to return to Ontario, and then re-arrested by Toronto police in October 2024.
Ibragimov’s arrest coincided with the apprehension of numerous alleged co-conspirators of Wedding in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and Colombia for various charges including drug trafficking and murder. Wedding, who had been evading authorities for a decade, was eventually arrested earlier this year.
Although Ibragimov’s plea deal did not explicitly reference Wedding, an indictment document listing Wedding and other co-conspirators included his name. Following his arrest, Ibragimov agreed to extradition to the U.S. after spending about a year at the Toronto South Detention Centre. His lawyer, Humberto Diaz, sought a reduced sentence of two and a half years citing the time served in detention and Ibragimov’s mitigating role in the offense.
Efforts to reach Diaz for comment by CBC were unsuccessful.