⚖️ US says Mexican judge took $2M bribe in Ryan Wedding case

A Mexican judge has been arrested on U.S. charges that he took a $2 million bribe to free a Ryan Wedding associate, the Justice Department announced Thursday, Nov. 5. The DOJ release says Luis Benítez Alcántara, 49, of Mexico City, was arrested on Sunday in Colombia and is charged with nine counts of being an accessory after the fact.

What the filing says

According to the superseding indictment returned on Sept. 4, as described in the DOJ release, Benítez was the district judge in Mexico City overseeing the extradition proceedings of Andrew Clark. Clark had been arrested in Mexico in October 2024 on U.S. drug trafficking, murder and attempted murder charges in which Wedding was also named.

The money trail, per the DOJ: the U.S. formally requested Clark's extradition in November 2024. From November 2024 through February 2025, Clark transferred approximately $2.75 million, through intermediaries and in small increments, to secure his release. During that period he also negotiated an agreement to pay Benítez approximately $2 million in exchange for ordering it.

On Feb. 24, 2025, the DOJ says, the same day Benítez received the full $2 million, he granted Clark bond and ordered him released. Days later, the release says, Clark was re-arrested and removed to the United States.

"Crooked public officials, no matter where they are, who assist drug traffickers operating here at home will face justice in the United States."

Attorney General Todd Blanche, in the Justice Department release

Who says what

Nearly everything about the bribe comes from the DOJ and the indictment it describes. CBS News and ABC News both attribute the allegations to the Department of Justice. FBI Director Kash Patel, quoted in the DOJ release, says Benítez allegedly accepted $2 million to free Wedding's second in command while Wedding was running what the FBI calls a billion-dollar criminal organization.

Some details come from one outlet only. The Toronto Star reports that Clark was first arrested in Guadalajara, Jalisco, on Oct. 8, 2024. It also reports that the indictment refers to unnamed intermediaries whose identities are redacted, and that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to answer its questions about the arrest or whether more charges are expected. The Star says authorities have not said why Benítez was in Colombia.

The response

No public response from Benítez appears in the reports read. CBS News reports it was not immediately known whether he has a lawyer. ABC News says it reached out to Mexico's government and judiciary for comment. CBS also reports that Clark's attorney, Matthew Lombard, did not immediately respond to messages Thursday.

What happens next

The DOJ says the United States will request Benítez's extradition from Colombia. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison on each count. The sources read give no court date for him. Wedding is scheduled for two separate trials, on March 31, 2027, and Oct. 26, 2027, per the DOJ, though the Toronto Star notes the dates could change given the case's complexity.

The Wedding case behind it

Wedding competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom, per CNN. In October 2024, federal prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment naming him and 15 other defendants in an alleged cocaine pipeline from Colombia through Mexico to Canada, with Clark as his second-in-command, per the DOJ. Wedding was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list in March 2025 and was arrested in Mexico in January 2026. He pleaded not guilty at his first federal court appearance, per the Associated Press.

The Star also reports, citing court documents it says "suggest" it, that Clark became a cooperating witness for the FBI and RCMP after his transfer to U.S. custody. The DOJ release says only that Clark's criminal case remains pending.

As of Nov 5, 8:28 PM ET, the confirmed part is that the DOJ has announced a nine-count accessory-after-the-fact indictment against Benítez and says he was arrested Sunday in Colombia. Still pending: his extradition, any response from him, and any court date. The bribe allegations are untested in court. Mr Scandal notes that the one thing the paperwork does not explain is what a Mexico City judge was doing in Colombia.