Ventura Judge Refuses to Lower Bail for Hells Angels Leader

VENTURA —  A Superior Court judge refused Monday to lower the $1-million bail of Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr., who faces drug and racketeering charges.

Christie, 53, his estranged wife and their two adult children are among 25 suspects arrested since a grand jury indicted them Friday for allegedly participating in a criminal gang whose activities included selling drugs to high school students in Ventura and Ojai.

Christie’s estranged wife, Cheryl, 53, surrendered to authorities Monday. Three other unidentified suspects have not be apprehended.

Judge Arturo Gutierrez refused to cut George Christie’s bail and that of other defendants during a lengthy hearing in a crowded courtroom, despite arguments that they are longtime Ventura County residents and have families and jobs they would not abandon to flee prosecution.

“He’s not going anywhere,” lawyer Pat Reardon said of Christie. “He’s looking forward to addressing these charges. . . . If he was going to go, he would have left by now.”

But Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Bennett argued that Christie should remain in jail.

“Mr. Christie has contacts all over the world; he’s the head of a criminal street gang,” Bennett said.

Prosecutors have not only received high bails--$1 million for seven suspects--but filed motions requesting that Gutierrez require that security on the bonds of principal suspects come from legitimate sources.

Christie, the reputed heir to Ralph “Sonny” Barger as the Angels leader nationwide, is charged with theft, fraud, tax evasion, firearms possession, drug sales to minors and the use of a street gang in a criminal conspiracy.

Altogether, the Christie family faces 56 criminal counts including 23 against George Christie Jr., 19 against Cheryl Christie, 13 against their 24-year-old son, George Gus Christie III, and two against daughter Moriya Christie, 29, a Ventura attorney who represents Hells Angels in court.

Cheryl Christie turned herself in after a weekend trip to see relatives, said Moriya Christie. Her mother remained in jail on $500,000 bail. But Moriya was freed on $20,000 bail and watched the day’s proceedings with her grandmother from the courtroom gallery.

Several lawyers argued that their clients are hardly notorious and deserve a break.

The lawyer for Mary Carlisle, 44, said Carlisle has two children, has owned her home for 13 years and has worked for the same employer for 25 years.

“She has a job and her employer wants her back,” Robert Sanger said.

By day’s end, Donald Sherwin, owner of Valley Foods in Santa Barbara, had posted Carlisle’s $250,000 bail.