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Ex-Hells Angels leader has to wait for charges
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Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff Sheriff's deputies say they found drugs in the Ventura home of former Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr.
Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff The father of 4-year-old Finn, George Christie Jr. spends most of his time at home because of a motorcycle accident last year, his attorney said.
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More from County NewsVentura County prosecutors did not file drug charges at Friday's scheduled arraignment of former Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr., and his attorney said the delay was evidence of a weak case stemming from years of vindictive, costly intimidation against his client.
"This continues a pattern of harassment," said Los Angeles defense attorney Robert Sheahen.
Delays in filing charges, however, are not uncommon, and people shouldn't read too much into it, Senior Deputy District Attorney Derek Malan said. The office has three years to file, he said.
"We expect to file felony charges against Mr. Christie once our investigation is complete," Malan said, declining further comment.
Christie was arrested last week — the day before his 61st birthday — after members of a Sheriff's Department gang unit found less than 2 grams of suspected cocaine and methamphetamine in his Ventura home, police said. A gram of cocaine can sell for $50 to $100 on the street.
The substances were discovered after one of three search warrants was served at Christie's home in the 400 block of Ventura Avenue. Deputies also determined Christie was under the influence of cocaine and methamphetamine, officials said.
A second search warrant was served at the home of Joe Cerezo, 34, who deputies said is a member of the Hells Angels. Cerezo, who lives in the 2900 block of Apache Avenue in Ventura, was arrested after deputies found a stolen shotgun in his bedroom, authorities said. Cerezo also has not been charged yet.
A search warrant was also served at the Hells Angels clubhouse at 65 Fix Way, Ventura. Several members were detained at the site, but no arrests were made.
Wearing a black sweat suit and glasses, Christie stood at his court appearance Friday, which lasted less than a minute because prosecutors said they needed more time to investigate. Christie agreed to return to court May 16.
It was his first time back in criminal court since 2004, when a judge denied a request to reduce his probation in a previous case so he could pursue a career in film and television.
Christie declined to comment on the new case. But Sheahen said in interviews this week that Christie has relinquished his role as president and unofficial spokesman for the Hells Angels motorcycle club.
This stuff is loony'
Sheahen said authorities are wasting taxpayers' money going after Christie. The father of a 4-year-old boy, Christie spends most of his time at home, particularly since a motorcycle accident last year put him under a doctor's care, the attorney said.
"All of this stuff is loony. It's nonsense," Sheahen said, speculating any drugs found in Christie's system likely were prescribed. "He's been a perfect probationer" since a massive 2001 drug and racketeering case that made national headlines, Sheahen said.
Christie was accused of being the leader of a prescription drug ring that targeted schoolchildren and was one of 28 people indicted by a Ventura County Grand Jury in February 2001. Many of the defendants, including Christie, later reached plea bargains and pleaded to lesser charges.
Prosecutors ultimately dropped 57 of 59 counts and enhancements filed against Christie. He pleaded guilty in 2002 to one count of conspiracy to possess the prescription drug Vicodin for sale, and no contest to a count of filing a false income tax return. He received three years' probation and time served for the 390 days he spent in jail.
Authorities released few details about last week's arrest, citing an ongoing investigation. The search warrants were sealed. But authorities said they were not buying that Christie is a reformed man.
"He admitted to the drugs" found in his belongings, sheriff's Sgt. Dave Murray said Friday.
Deputies searched his house for evidence of a possibly stolen motorcycle, Murray said. Christie cooperated and later agreed to a urine test, which "came back dirty for cocaine, meth and opiates," Murray said.
Sheriff's Capt. Mike Aranda, who leads the county gang unit, described the Hells Angels as an active criminal street gang worth the time and taxpayer expense to monitor.
"The Hells Angels are absolutely a street gang. We've made a number of arrests of Hells Angels members," mostly on assault and drug-related charges, Ventura police Lt. Quinn Fenwick said. "And I believe we will continue to have problems with them."
Bunch of old guys'
Sheahen disagreed. "There is this mystique that the Hells Angels are bad people and we need to get these bad people," he said, "when in reality, it's mostly a bunch of old guys riding their motorcycles around."
County officials said they spent about $2 million on the 2001-02 case against the Hells Angels, but some think the figure is closer to $6 million.
"I think (former District Attorney Mike) Bradbury spent $6 million to get George on probation," said Sheahen. "Maybe (current District Attorney Greg) Totten can spend $6 million to get him on derision."
Posted by goldeneye on May 3, 2008 at 6:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If the guy had methamphetamine and cocaine in his house, then he's probably just an old pathetic junky.
Posted by senorbriar on May 3, 2008 at 9:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sounds like a prop 36 case to me at best
Posted by zulumaster on May 3, 2008 at 11:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sounds like the Star is a fan of the HA's
WHAT A JOKE!!!
Posted by Face on May 3, 2008 at 11:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
In other words, "We are going to keep looking into why we have arrested him and see if we cannot find a reason someday". In 3 years it will be dropped and nobody will see that story, you'll see.
Posted by jill on May 3, 2008 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Shouldn't this case be referred to Child Protective Services? Children shouldn't be raised by drug-using gangsters.
Posted by Face on May 3, 2008 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No charges, so I guess not.
Posted by Face on May 3, 2008 at 4:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Hells Angels are a motorcycle club, not a gang. Do some of them commit crimes? Yes. Do some people in your clique, social status, or family? Yes. The Hells Angels have donated their time and efforts towards fantastic charitable causes some of which are dear to my family. You paint them with a broad brush because you are racist and drool at the thought of whitey being in a 'gang'. I went to the river last weekend for the River Run. 50,000 of your 'gangsters' visited and had a great time. No violence, no problems, quite uneventful for law enforcement. Thing is also, they were from all kinds of clubs, sorry, 'gangs'. Keep your generalizing racist comments out of the public forum. You should be ashamed of yourself. Motorcycle enthusiasts shouldn't have to be ostracized because of a few bad apples.
Posted by FedUp on May 3, 2008 at 8:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am sure there was not going to be violence at the river run, since all of them are supporting the same cause. bikes, drugs, and gangs.
HA's in the city of Ventura are a CRIMINAL STREET GANG! Plain and simple. I love how the STAR shows a picture of george with his kid, making him out to be some kind of family man. what kind of parent does coke and meth? a horrible parent, thats who.
I guess we now know why Sabien is running things in VTA now as well. george's bike accident. he was probably high on coke and meth when he crashed. good example for his kids....
Posted by bob100 on May 3, 2008 at 10:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow - I haven't seen a fluff piece like that in a long time. Who says the Star is biased against law enforcement? It just ain't so! I mean, sure, every other news outlet immediately rushes out to the criminal's home to take warm and cuddly pictures of the crook with his child. I'm almost got misty-eyed. "2 grams of suspected cocaine and methamphetamine in his Ventura home." Would that be the same home that child lives in? How sweet. Maybe Child Protective Services should be out there instead of the Star kissing his butt.
Posted by pacman08 on May 4, 2008 at 5:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So is it common practice for the County Star to take photo's of someone playing with their child after that person has been arrested for drug possesion charges?
Posted by surfmedic91 on May 5, 2008 at 8:42 a.m.
(This thread was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by Face on May 5, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So... 3% of Hells Angels are criminal according to Mike666. Hardly a number I would use to describe them as a Gang or Chicken heads etc. In fact, that sounds like a general population statistic. I hope this doesn't dissuade Hell's Angel members from donating their time and efforts on the good causes they champion. There are plenty of us folks who appreciate it. Not all of think that a few bad apples spoil the bunch.
Posted by surfmedic91 on May 5, 2008 at 11:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
face, he's calling them Chicken Heads as a put down because of their death head logo on their vests.
Posted by joflo13 on May 5, 2008 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How freaking funny and typical. LMAO. All you morons just love to talk crap from your computers without using your real names. Don't you? How noble you are. Have some balls and say what you gotta say...TO THEIR FACE. They have a club house on Fix Way in West Ventura. It's easy to find. Just drop on by and tell how you feel. Same applies for any other "Bad People" that you have an opinion on that you would like to express to them. Other wise just keep on being the same lame you that you are and continue doing it here.
Stay up George. Don't let these sissys get you down.
-Jose Flores
Posted by goaliegirl69 on May 5, 2008 at 12:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I doubt there are many (if any) outside of those with badges that would be willing to face down a Hell's Angel and tell them how they feel... Their reputation is less than exemplary when it comes to the hospitality of others.
Posted by surfmedic91 on May 5, 2008 at 1:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jose, good job. The traffic on the Avenue is backed up now because of the line to the club house. I heared it's not because people want to tell them what they think of them. It's because they're selling lemonade for a quarter.
Posted by joflo13 on May 5, 2008 at 2:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey Mike666, so when are you going to go to the club house and tell them how you feel about them. What's keeping you from paying them a visit? You seem to have alot of free time on your hands. You should go by there.
P.S. Get a life.
Posted by joflo13 on May 5, 2008 at 2:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey Mike666, I don't know anything about any chicken heads. The HA's don't need my protection. You, on the other hand, might need protection running your mouth the way you do. Excuse me. Running your fingers the way you do.
Posted by joflo13 on May 5, 2008 at 3:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mike you're nothing more than a hater.
Posted by Face on May 5, 2008 at 3:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thousands of members and what... 30 have made a bad appearance in a newspaper? Sounds like you have an axe to grind Mike666, you a member of the Mongols? Anyway, your statistical data is statistically insignificant and shows if anything that they are as a whole no more prone to crime than the average working stiff.
Posted by Face on May 5, 2008 at 5:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mike666, you harbor a great hatred towards the Hells Angels, why don't you tell us how you really feel? Maybe you should renounce Satan? At any rate, if you think there are only 300 Hells Angels in the U.S. you are out of your mind as everyone here can look up Hells Angels Membership on Google. I do not lie, I am the purveyor of truth in a murky world. Perhaps you are racist against European Americans as your gang lingo and lack of punctuation would suggest?
Posted by Face on May 5, 2008 at 5:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
BTW The latest numerical data I could find comes from Germany April 2008 where they say there are 3,000. Since the club started in California, I would have a very hard time believing there are 10 times as many of them in Germany as here.
Posted by Face on May 5, 2008 at 6:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Membership is confidential Mike, a few that want to have their names, faces, etc. associated with it in public are few. Using your logic there is no Las Chiques gang because I cannot find a list of names and faces. Get real.
Posted by Face on May 5, 2008 at 6:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Look Mike, you obviously don't want to face facts. I am beginning to think you were a victim of molestation at the hands of a Hells Angels member. I hope you can get some counseling and learn to deal with it constructively. Your rants are racist and threatening. Get some help now before it is too late. Oh, and though if I had to in order to satisfy your primitive curiosity, I don't even know how to ride a bike.. nor my wife. I guess for you I would need to then say I nor my wife are Hells Angels or personally know of one. And don't then tell me I do not know anything because of that, because that is using false logic. Go get hooked on phonics.
Posted by Face on May 5, 2008 at 6:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I protect all groups from generalized statements that are based on emotion vs. logic. You have a HUGE chip on your shoulder, it will not do you well in life. I don't dislike you Mike "666" I am going to pray for you that you can find peace and get that weight off your chest. I am sorry for whatever they did to harm you in such a way.
Posted by Face on May 5, 2008 at 7:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Uhhh yeah o.k. you really are quite unstable. I know because you are on my secret list I have that I cannot post here of course. Your grandiosity precedes you. You are burning your cause down which is (my word for the day) Blunderous.
Posted by Face on May 5, 2008 at 7:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Someone take out the trash please. I thought this would be fun, but now it is boring.
Posted by Ms_California on May 6, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
it's mostly a bunch of old guys riding their motorcycles around."
What a bunch of crap! All the HA's I see are not old guys and most of the time they aren't even on their motorcycles!
Posted by stave1 on May 7, 2008 at 3:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have been too busy to read or contribute to any of this blog. My take is that there are quite a few bloggers on this one that are to close for comfort for me. Some of these people know a lot more about what is going on than the normal hard working majority. Since I am a victim of several of their crimes I feel I can contribute some to this blog. My husband was killed by the HAs (Motorcycle accident) and then they hung my beautiful niece and made it look like (suicide)leaving an orphaned child. Both tragic accidents. both were 40 days apart. But because it is so extreme the only people I can talk to about it is the shrink. Otherwise, I would be concidered a looney tune. These are the suttle ways the HAs work. There are things in this blog that only one percent of the world would know. Not enough can be said about the hang arounds-these are the people who want to be HAs and lack some intellegence to accually make it. so they are the ones that usually pull all of the crimes, that were thought up by the brighter HAs. scary isn't it?
Mike666 I feel your pain. Please seek help it will help you to feel better. You don't need to be that close to the HAs either. That is your choice. Personally, I choose the good life the one God chose for me. Forgiveness is a hard thing to do.....I don't know the to what extreme they nailed you. but, I can tell it was not good.
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on May 8, 2008 at 1 p.m. (Suggest removal)
They dontate to charitable causes, just so you ignorant people out there say..."hey there not so bad, they dontate to toys for tots" You have been fooled!
Question:
Do all HA's ride pos harleys?
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on May 8, 2008 at 1:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Reverend!!!!
I love that gabby johnson prairie gibberish!
Posted by thisiswhatshesaid on May 8, 2008 at 4 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Whos does this Mike666 think he is?? Is he from San Degio? What the hell is he thinking... what an IDOIT!
Posted by stave1 on May 8, 2008 at 4:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
For me, I am not afraid. For my family I am. With so much loss and the losses so close together I don't feel free to disclose who I am. However, there are a lot of people who know my story, some of which is my Shrink, another is my Doctor and another is my Priest. The story is all in writing with the proof in different hands. In case of my untimely death, the story will be told and what proof I have will be shown. Maybe it's enough to support the story and the light will shine down on the Big Red Machine and friends;)
Mike666, you are very crass and I would not spend time with you. However, I appreciate the fact that you are concerned for Widows, Women and children enough to fight for us. Forgive me if I don't seem to trust your intentions. I have no reason to trust or not to trust you. But I don't really have it in me for another loss from the HAs & Friends.
Posted by stave1 on May 9, 2008 at 9:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you Mike666
Posted by bob100 on June 1, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Christie Pleads Not Guilty To Drug Charges But...
Ventura Hells Angels Leader Likely Will Not Fight Charges
By: KVTA News
2008-05-30
Ventura Hells Angeles leader George Christie was in court Friday to be arraigned on two felony counts of drug possession, and one misdemeanor count of being under the influence of drugs. He pleaded not guilty, but his attorney said Christie will likely not fight the charges and take a plea agreement instead. Christie was arrested in April after sheriff's deputies served a search warrant on his Ventura home. Deputies say they found a small amount of cocaine and methamphetamine and that Christie was under the influence. His attorney said outside of court Friday that Christie will likely not fight the charges and instead sign up for either a drug diversion or Proposition 36 drug program at some point.
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