George Christie (biker)
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George Gus Christie Jr. (born April 26, 1947) is an American former
outlaw biker An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, a ...
and
gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
who served as president of the
Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...
chapter of the
Hells Angels Motorcycle Club The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...
between 1978 and 2011. He is the longest-serving chapter president in the club's history.Street Smarts: Former Ventura Hells Angels leader tells his story at library
''Pacific Coast Business Times'' (May 6, 2022) Christie was also a national spokesman for the Hells Angels.The Fall of a Hells Angel Leader
Jeff Adler, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' (March 3, 2001) The journalist
Alice Carbone Tench Alice Carbone Tench is an Italian-born writer, journalist, and chef based in Los Angeles. Career In 2010, after graduating from college in Foreign Languages and Literatures from the University of Turin (Italy), and after working as a translato ...
described him as "the most notorious Hells Angel in America fter Sonny Barger">Sonny_Barger.html" ;"title="fter Sonny Barger">fter Sonny Barger.Exclusive Interview With Ex-Hells Angels George Christie: The Man Beyond The Myth Part 1
AliceCarbone.com (August 31, 2013)


Early life

George Gus Christie Jr. was born in
Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...
in 1947, the only child of
Greek immigrant parents, and raised in an insular Greek Americans">Greek American Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest es ...
community in the city.George Christie Jr
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
 Christie also lived in
Camarillo Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan an ...
and
Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
as a child. His maternal grandparents Anglicisation of names">anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
their surname from Vlassopoulos to Blacy, and his paternal grandparents from Chrispikos to Christie. He described himself as "very timid" and "really sensitive" as a child, and his parents as "very protective, very loving, gentle" people. Christie first became interested in the outlaw biker subculture as a child when he first saw a member of an outlaw motorcycle club on the street when he was in Los Angeles with his father. He noticed that everyone around him was very concerned about the biker but the biker seemed to not care.Outlaw: George Christie's Life In The Hells Angels (And Beyond)
Fred Wasser,
KNPR KNPR (88.9 FM, "News 88.9") is a non-commercial radio station located in Las Vegas, Nevada. KNPR airs news/talk programming syndicated by National Public Radio (NPR). KNPR broadcasts in HD. History KNPR signed on for the first time on Marc ...
(June 20, 2018) Christie recalled: "I don’t know how old I was. Seven to 10 years old at the most — this guy made such an impression on me".George Christie’s ‘Outlaw’
Maggie Yates, ''
Santa Barbara Independent The ''Santa Barbara Independent'' is a news, arts, and alternative newspaper published every Thursday in Santa Barbara, California, United States. History The weekly paper was founded in November 1986, the result of a merger between ''The Santa ...
'' (May 1, 2018) Another pivotal moment in Christie's early life which caused him to develop even more of an outsider mentality was when he was accused of cheating on an
intelligence quotient An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzqu ...
test in high school. He struggled in school due to
dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...
, but scored highly on the IQ test, leading him to be accused of cheating by the school principal, who refused to believe that Christie had legitimately fared so well. Christie said of the incident: "I thought to myself, ‘if this is polite society, no thank you'." Christie became an avid surfer as a teenager. He joined the reserves of the
Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
at the age of seventeen after graduating from high school. He did not see service in the Vietnam war. Christie served in the Marine Corps reserves for the rest of the 1960s. In 1966, he bought his first motorcycle for $200, a 1957 Harley-Davidson Panhead. In the late 1960s, Christie was a member in succession of two outlaw biker gangs, the Question Marks in Ventura and Satan's Slaves of Los Angeles. He also began associating with prominent motorcycle customizers including Kenny "Von Dutch" Howard. Christie was one of the few American outlaw bikers with a college degree. He worked as an electrician for the Defense Department while he married his high school girlfriend Cheryl, who immigrated to
Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...
from
Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket ( 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The name stems from the ...
in 1961.Cheryl Lynn Christie obituary
''
Ventura County Star The ''Ventura County Star'' (Marked online as VC Star) is a daily newspaper published in Camarillo, California and serves all of Ventura County. It is owned by Gannett, the largest publisher of newspapers in the United States. It is a successor ...
'' (February 7, 2006) They had two children together, George Christie III and Moriya Christie.


Hells Angels

In 1975, Christie joined the
Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...
as a "prospect", or probationary member, and in 1976 was initiated as a "full patch" member of the club's
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
(LACO) chapter. Christie told the Canadian journalists
Julian Sher Julian Sher is a Canadian investigative journalist, filmmaker, author and newsroom trainer based in Montreal, Quebec. He was an investigative producer for ten years then a senior producer for five years with the CBC's '' The Fifth Estate''. He has ...
and William Marsden in a 2006 interview: "I really wanted to make a statement of some sort. It really wasn't the thought of criminality; it was more an interest to rebel. It was a commitment". He identified with the Hells Angels' "live and let live" philosophy and claims that, while the Angels took part in brawls with sailors from the
Naval Air Base San Pedro Naval Air Base San Pedro, NAS Terminal Island was a US Navy World War II 410-acre airfield on Terminal Island in San Pedro, California part of the City of Los Angeles. Before the Navy took control of the airfield, the airstrip was the civilian All ...
and members of rival biker clubs, the level of violence was contained during that period. Christie remarked in an interview with Maggie Yates of the ''
Santa Barbara Independent The ''Santa Barbara Independent'' is a news, arts, and alternative newspaper published every Thursday in Santa Barbara, California, United States. History The weekly paper was founded in November 1986, the result of a merger between ''The Santa ...
'' in 2018: "No one ever went home after a fight and got a gun. The losers would buy breakfast". Unlike some other members of the Hells Angels, Christie was married with children and would typically carry out club duties at night and on weekends. Reflecting on this in an interview with
KNPR KNPR (88.9 FM, "News 88.9") is a non-commercial radio station located in Las Vegas, Nevada. KNPR airs news/talk programming syndicated by National Public Radio (NPR). KNPR broadcasts in HD. History KNPR signed on for the first time on Marc ...
in 2018, Christie said: "I was accepted for who I was, what I was. There was a lot of brotherhood back then. It was all based on brotherhood and motorcycles back then." Six months after becoming a full-fledged member of the LACO charter, which was initially based in
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...
before relocating to
North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
, he was elected the chapter's president, succeeding "Old Man" John Nobel. The culture within the Hells Angels began to change shortly after Christie joined the club, however, when the Angels in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
came into conflict the
Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
. Christie was one of nine Hells Angels members who were involved in a mass brawl with a large group of Mongols at a motorcycle swap meet in Anaheim on March 11, 1977, the first skirmish in the feud. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Hells Angels were able to leave a number of Mongols seriously injured before escaping converging police.I Was a Hells Angel for 40 Years. This is the One Time I Doubted the Outlaw Lifestyle.
George Christie, narratively.com (September 30, 2016) Shortly afterwards, the Mongols began wearing a
patch Patch or Patches may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Patch Johnson, a fictional character from ''Days of Our Lives'' * Patch (''My Little Pony''), a toy * "Patches" (Dickey Lee song), 1962 * "Patches" (Chairmen of the Board song) ...
on their biker "
colors Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...
" reading "California", denoting the state as their territory. As the preeminent motorcycle gang in California, the Hells Angels claimed exclusive rights to the patch and took offense to the Mongols' wearing of it.The Mongol Motorcycle Gang and the Mexican Mafia
Richard Valdemar, PoliceMag.com (January 21, 2008) When the Mongols defied the Hells Angels' warnings to cease wearing the "California" patch, the Angels voted unanimously at a club meeting on July 7, 1977, in favor of declaring war on their rivals. The biker war led to an escalation in violence and resulted in the deaths of four Mongols members and an innocent fifteen-year-old boy in a series of shootings and bombings in the Los Angeles and
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
areas between July and September 1977. A second Hells Angels chapter was established in Los Angeles County on January 1, 1978, when members of Satan's Slaves "patched over" to form the Angels' Chatsworth-based
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
charter following a vote of approval from Hells Angels leaders in
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
."Hells Angels M/C SFV"
yellow.place The origins of Paranormal Witness' haunted outlaw biker
Bryan Enk,
Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
(September 21, 2016) Christie subsequently founded the Hells Angels chapter in Ventura County with himself as the chapter president. The Ventura chapter was founded on May 6, 1978.Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
Deputy John Williams,
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...
(2008) Claire Spiegel of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' described the clubhouse of the Ventura chapter as "a nondescript little building with a red steel door warning 'No Bozos. No Wimps'."The Angel and the Heiress: Biker in Dispute With Eunice Shriver Over $3,000 Olympic Fee
Claire Spiegel, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' (April 29, 1985) The same year, Christie was fired from the Defense Department on the account of his Hells Angels membership. In Ventura County, Christie was a local celebrity who dominated the political and economic life of the county and he was considered to be the most powerful man in Ventura. Mark Coronado of the Ventura County Police Department stated: "People love him. They think he's a god down here". Sher and Marsden wrote in 2006 that Christie was almost universally admired in Ventura with his image being that of a kind-hearted businessman who was generous in helping others. In 1983, Christie was featured in a cover story in the ''Los Angeles Times'' about the "mellowing" of the Hells Angels. The same year, he denied accusations from the California Organized Crime Control Commission, which described the Hells Angels as "the epitome of all outlaw motorcycle gangs", insisting that the Hells Angels are merely a motorcycle club, and saying: "Its a family is what it is".Angels just a motorcycle club — or a gang deep into crime?
Walter Wright, ''
The Honolulu Advertiser ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest daily newspaper in the American state of Hawaii. It published daily with special Sunday and Int ...
'' (April 24, 1983) In 1984, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevent ...
(ATF) circulated a rumor in Ventura that the Hells Angels might disrupt the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
in Los Angeles by supplying weapons to terrorists for an attack at
Lake Casitas Lake Casitas is a reservoir in Ventura County, California, built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and completed in 1959. The project provides drinking water and water for irrigation. A secondary benefit is flood control. It was the ven ...
, which hosted water sports at the games. Christie told the ''Los Angeles Times'' in April 1984: "There were rumors around Los Angeles that we would try to disrupt the Olympic Games this summer. That's ridiculous. We're not against the Olympics".Surprise Guest To Carry Torch
Thomas Rogers, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' (April 26, 1984) In a 2013 interview with the Italian writer
Alice Carbone Tench Alice Carbone Tench is an Italian-born writer, journalist, and chef based in Los Angeles. Career In 2010, after graduating from college in Foreign Languages and Literatures from the University of Turin (Italy), and after working as a translato ...
, Christie recalled: "The interesting thing is that they misjudged how integrated in the community we were. We had come here in 1978 and really became part of Ventura; when the ATF came into town they started doing a character assassination to try to discredit us. I had started getting calls from many businessmen visited by the ATF showing pictures of myself and my club members. In order to fight those ludicrous statements we decided to embrace the Olympics and we got involved. The irony is that their program of misinformation to the community drew us in, and made us the 'All American Boys'. We backfired". The Ventura chapter conducted a national fund drive and raised the $3,000 entry fee necessary for a Christie to carry the
Olympic torch The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic ...
for one kilometer as part of the
1984 Summer Olympics torch relay The 1984 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from May 8 until July 28, prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The route covered around across the United States and involved over 3,600 torchbearers. Rafer Johnson lit the cauldron at th ...
. Olympic officials were initially unaware that the cheque, signed H.A.M.C.U.S., was from the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, United States.Tatooed Hells Angel files suit in Los Angeles
Catherine Gewertz,
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
(May 16, 1986) On July 20, 1984, Christie carried the torch though
Oxnard Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
during the opening rituals for the Los Angeles Olympics.Olympic torch expected to blaze into Malibu Beach
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
(July 20, 1984) He was cheered on by "hordes" of members of the Hells Angels, Crucifiers and Heathens motorcycle clubs as he arrived with the torch in a remote pea field outside
Point Mugu Point Mugu (, Chumash: ''Muwu'') is a cape or promontory within Point Mugu State Park on the Pacific Coast in Ventura County, near the city of Port Hueneme and the city of Oxnard. The name is believed to be derived from the Chumash Indian term ...
in Ventura County in the culmination of the 15,000-mile cross-country relay. Christie donated the $3,000 raised by the Hells Angels to the
Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...
and designated the funds for a Special Olympics chapter in
Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888 ...
. When the donation failed to reach Pottstown, Christie made dozens of phone calls from a pay phone in the Ventura Hells Angels clubhouse to
Eunice Kennedy Shriver Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009) was an American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She was the founder of the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with physical and intellectual disa ...
, the chairwoman of the board of the Special Olympics, to enquire about the location of the funds. Kennedy Shriver corresponded by letter with Christie, informing him of a longstanding policy under which funds are distributed on a 50/50 basis between the Special Olympics headquarters in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and state chapters, rather than directly to local programs.Hells Angel Appeals Fail to Resolve Olympic Dispute
Claire Spiegel, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' (May 14, 1985) On June 11, 1985, Christie filed a lawsuit in
Los Angeles County Superior Court The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Los Angeles County, which includes the city of Los Angeles. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The ...
against the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC) and Special Olympics Inc. in an effort to have the Hells Angels' donation given directly to Pottstown. Each page of the suit was stamped with a seal bearing the Hells Angels death's head logo.Hells Angel files suit
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
(June 12, 1985) The complaint was dismissed. On May 15, 1986, Christie filed a second Superior Court lawsuit against the LAOOC and the Special Olympics. In the 1990s and 2000s, Christie was generally considered to be the second most powerful Hells Angel in the United States and to be the right-hand man of the Hells Angels international president
Sonny Barger Ralph Hubert "Sonny" Barger, Jr. (October 8, 1938 – June 29, 2022) was an American outlaw biker, author and actor who was a founding member of the Oakland, California chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in 1957. After forming the O ...
. After Barger lost his voice due to throat cancer, Christie became the public face of the Hells Angels.


Conspiracy trial

In 1986, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI) launched a
sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...
against Christie, assigning Michael "Slim" Mulhern, a senior
Mexican Mafia The Mexican Mafia (Spanish: ''Mafia Mexicana''), also known as ''La eMe'' (Spanish for "the M"), is a Mexican American criminal organization in the United States. Despite its name, the Mexican Mafia did not originate in Mexico, and is entirely ...
member and FBI
informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...
, to make Christie an offer to have the Mexican Mafia kill Thomas Arthur Chaney, a former Ventura Hells Angel who had cooperated with the government and provided federal authorities with information on the Hells Angels' drug-dealing activities.Fallen Angel? Motorcycle Gang Leader Faces Trial on Murder-for-Hire Charge
Kim Murphy, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' (April 13, 1987) Former Hells Angels boss Sonny Barger was a fraud who beat his wife and 14-year-old stepdaughter, ex-gangster George Christie writes in 'Exile on Front Street' tell-all
Sherryl Connelly, ''
New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' (September 17, 2016) Chaney was imprisoned at the
Federal Correctional Institution, Safford The Federal Correctional Institution, Safford (FCI Safford) is a low-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Arizona. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. FCI S ...
, Arizona at the time.The Region
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' (October 12, 1986) Beginning in August 1986, Mulhern covertly recorded a number of conversations he had with Christie and another Hells Angel, Daniel Joe Fabricant. Christie allegedly offered Mulhern $500 in cash and a 1973
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality **Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
automobile to arrange the killing of Chaney.Hell’s Angel in Olympic Run Seized
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' (September 27, 1986) The FBI faked Chaney's murder in September 1986 and a note was subsequently sent to the Ventura Hells Angels clubhouse reading: "The body work has been taken care of". Later that month, on September 25, 1986, Christie visited Mulhern at a motel room in Ventura and paid him with an envelope containing five $100 bills and the title to a car. Christie was recorded by Mulhern talking about hiring Mulhern to kill Chaney. The transcript recorded Christie as saying: "I'd do it myself if he were here". The wiretap also recorded Christie as saying to Mulhern: "I’m sure like in a week or so everything will be mellowed out again and, uh, I got something else will be real easy for you". Coronado commented about the "sting" operation: "George just felt that something wasn't right. He's no dummy". After stepping onto the balcony to ponder what to do, Christie came back into the hotel room to ask Mulhern to return the money, saying: "Hey, Mike? Let, let, let me have that, that envelope, all right?". However, the FBI then stormed into the motel room to arrest Christie on charges of
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
to commit murder. Christie insists he was the victim of
entrapment Entrapment is a practice in which a law enforcement agent or agent of the state induces a person to commit a "crime" that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit.''Sloane'' (1990) 49 A Crim R 270. See also agent provo ...
with the money being used to pay off an old debt, not payment for a murder. The day after his arrest, Christie was ordered held without bail pending trial. He and Fabricant, an alleged intermediary in the conspiracy, were each indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to murder and one count of solicitation to murder, on October 6, 1986. Christie recalled: "At my first court appearance when they said, 'The United States of America vs George Christie', it sends a little shiver down your spin. The most powerful country in the world and you're up against them". Christie and Fabricant went on trial in Los Angeles federal court beginning in April 1987. While prosecutors described the case against the defendants as a "straight case of murder-for-hire, very simple, very clean", Christie's defense attorney, Barry Tarlow, contended that the charges against his client were retribution by authorities against Christie, who had no criminal record and who had used the national media attention had he accrued following the 1984 Olympic torch relay to accuse law enforcement of harassment against the Hells Angels. Tarlow put Mulhern on trial in a sense as he attacked his character. Mulhern was an unsavory career criminal and a
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
addict, and Christie's lawyer portrayed him to the jury as a man willing to tell any lie to gain money to support his substance abuse. Tarlow described Mulhern as "a one-man crime wave" and "a pathological liar who would sell out his own mother". Mulhern came across on the stand as unlikeable and as a man who was not telling the truth. Most notably, the federal prosecutors at the trial seemed to have been embarrassed by their star witness who had a long criminal record and a history of telling lies. Christie by contrast when he testified came across as likable and sincere. Much of the government's case was reliant upon recorded conversations Mulhern had with Christie and Fabricant. The defense maintained that Mulhern had a number of unrecorded conversation with Christie which revealed that the Mexican Mafia had in fact wanted to kill Chaney for their own reasons and were seeking assurance from Christie that there would be no retaliation from the Hells Angels were the murder to take place. The trial ended with Christie being acquitted. One member of the jury told the media: "George appeared to be very honest and very sincere and very dedicated not only to his family, but the Hells Angels". To celebrate his acquittal, Christie hosted a party at the Hells Angels Ventura clubhouse that was attended by the members of the jury that acquitted him.


Celebrity biker and club spokesman

Christie became a media star in California who spoke at the graduating classes at high schools and colleges. Sher and Marsden wrote: "Small in stature and unthreatening, he become a media darling, with his easy laugh and gravelly voice". On October 26, 1989, the Hells Angels filed a federal trademark infringement lawsuit in Los Angeles against
Concorde-New Horizons New Concorde (NC) is an American Los Angeles, California based film distribution company founded by Roger Corman. NC got its start in 1983 when Corman formed the production and distribution Concorde-New Horizons (CNH) as one of the first producti ...
, which produced the film ''
Nam Angels ''Nam Angels'' is a 1989 Philippine biker Vietnam war film directed by Cirio H. Santiago and written by Dan Gagliasso. The film was released in West Germany as ''Hell's Angels in Vietnam''. Plot During the Vietnam War an American patrol engag ...
'', and against
Media Home Entertainment Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band. Media Home Entertainment also distributed video product under three additional labels — ...
, which distributed the film on video, over infringements on the club's registered trademarks.Hells Angels say trademark used without permission
Steve Harvey, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' (October 27, 1989) Hells Angels sue over alleged trademark infringement
Dave McNary,
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
(October 26, 1989) ''Nam Angels'' depicts a group of Hells Angels on a
mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
mission in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. As the Hells Angels' spokesman Christie said: "There is absolutely no way our board or membership would have approved the portrayal of the Hells Angels in this movie. In fact, the portrayal of our members as disloyal to each other is totally contrary to the most important values of our organization – loyalty and trust". He further stated: "We have a structure in place for negotiating commercial licensing arrangements and we would be perfectly amenable to working with any enterprise interested in using Hells Angels trademarks within the guidelines we've established." The lawsuit was ultimately
settled A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...
out of court.Look Homeward Angel: Cycle Icon Sonny Barger Kick-Starts Life As A Free Man By Violating Parole
Philip Martin, ''
Phoenix New Times ''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue ...
'' (December 2, 1992) In 1990, Christie was interviewed by
Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...
on ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'' about the Hells Angels' criminal allegations. When Wallace confronted Christie with a Hells Angels document from 1987 warning that the Angels must not "burn" those involved in drug deals, Christie called the documents forgeries done by unknown hands. Christie told Wallace that the Hells Angels were not involved as an institution in drug dealing. Christie became such a celebrity that by 1991 he sold the rights to make a film out of his life story to a Hollywood studio. The film which was to be produced and directed by
Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ' ...
was ultimately not made owing to objections from Cheryl Christie who disliked the way she was portrayed in the script. When Christie visited Paris, he was hosted by
Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...
at a party. Law enforcement in Ventura had a different opinion of Christie with one policeman, Ken Corney, saying: "We'd see the continual criminal influence in our city, the intimidation, the beatings and the drug dealing. We arrested little users all the time and small-time dealers who wouldn't give us any names but who readily admitted the methamphetamine and marijuana were from the HA
ells Angels Ells may refer to: * Ell, a measure of length * Ell (architecture) * Ells (surname), a surname * Ells Field, an airport in Mendocino County, California, United States * Ells River, in Alberta, Canada * Euroleague for Life Sciences See also ...
In 1991, the police chief of Ventura County, Richard Thomas, said of the Hells Angels chapter: "They’ve taken the position right from the start that if they don’t screw up in Ventura very much, there’ll be no reason for the police to hassle them,. And that has been pretty much the case. The Hells Angels locally have been involved in very few provable criminal incidents." One policeman said of him in 1991: "Christie saved them. They know who their speakers are, and Christie is a very well-spoken member. And he is very charismatic...I’ve seen Christie step in and take care of business when members were getting out of control – getting out of line with law enforcement." The same policeman said Christie is "very difficult to investigate" as: "He’s so clean. He keeps himself removed. He’s not supposed to be doing the dirty business." The Deputy District Attorney of Ventura County, Roger A. Inman, said in 1991: "He testified in the (1990) Fabricant case. That was the first time I ever saw the mythical George Christie. Let’s face it, in some circles, he seems to be somewhat of a folk hero". Christie owned a tattoo parlor on Main Street, the Ink House along with a martial arts studio, a bail bonds firm, and a pornographic company, Erotic Images. Christie holds a
black belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...
in
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
and was described as an enthusiastic teacher of karate along with
kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...
. He sat as an administrator with the law firm where his daughter was an attorney with giving him what he called "legal intelligence" about who was being arrested and charged in Ventura.


Criminal allegations

In 1994, Christie sponsored his 18-year-old son, George Christie III, into his chapter as a "full patch" member even though Hells Angels records state that a member must be 21 or older to join. Christie told Sher and Marsden: "Well, he must had an ID that said he was twenty-one". Christie was concerned about the image of the Hells Angels as "a bunch of old, potbellied men" and stated that "my agenda is moving the Hells Angels forward into this next century". Christie ''fils'' was a member of the Pierpont Rats, a group of "rich little white kids" as one policeman put it who spent their time surfing and skateboarding. A number of Pierpont Rats followed Christie ''fils'' into the Hells Angels. One policeman, John Castelanos, stated: "Suddenly our street gang members are hanging around with George. They'd never been on motorcycles! I thought maybe George was going through a mid-life crisis because these guys brought the cute girls from the beach". At the time, Christie was in the middle of a divorce with his wife Cheryl and he told Sher and Marsden: "Did I have an attraction to young women? Consciously no but...you think, I'm reaching the end of the road here, and suddenly you got these young, good-looking women who think you're pretty good". Castelanos stated: "He was throwing parties for all these kids. It was ludicrous. Young girls were going in and out of there he Ventura clubhouse. Christie married a 22-year old university student, Nikki Nicoletto, whom he meet at one of his parties. Christie ''fils'' recruited many of the younger friends into the Hells Angels. The recruitment of young men who dressed in a skateboard style, wore their baseball caps backwards, listened to rap and hip-hop music, and had a "punk attitude" led to complaints from the older Hells Angels. One Hells Angel from Arizona told the undercover policeman,
Jay Dobyns Jay Anthony "Jaybird" Dobyns (born July 24, 1961), is a retired Special Agent and veteran undercover operative with the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), New York Times Best-Selling author, public speaker, a ...
, about the younger members of the Ventura country chapter: "That's fucking bullshit! These guys are a fucking' embarrassment!" Corney stated: "The nucleus of the club George had formed was spinning out of control. He had very different types of people in the club: different goals, different ways of looking at things. He had splintered his own club". A police report dated April 18, 1997 declared: "Several new trends including the use of street gangs in the sale of methamphetamines, the extortion of businesses in the city of Ventura and money laundering through businesses owned and operated by members and associates...Recent Intel indicates a power struggle will ensure when Sonny Barger dies and George Christie continues to be the main man on the west coast. It is believed that George Christie and the current president of the Oakland HA chapter will vie for the top position as national president". In 1998 to celebrate the semicentennial of the founding of the Hells Angels in 1948, Christie hosted the Hells Angels World Run in Ventura, a significant honor within the group. More than 100 Hells Angels from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Europe attended the jubilee celebrations. Christine hosting the golden jubilee celebrations was widely taken as a sign that he was the successor to Barger. Corney stated: "We were well on our way to becoming the HA hub for the world-or at least the U.S. He was the Al Capone of the city". When Sher and Marsden informed Christie about the claim that he was the "
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
of Ventura", he replied: "How do I respond? I take it as a compliment". In 1998, the ''
Ventura County Reporter Southland Publishing, Inc. is a publishing company based in Pasadena, California with five offices in Southern California ( Downtown Los Angeles, Ventura County, Santa Monica, Pasadena, and San Diego). The company produces weekly newspapers, mon ...
'' newspaper in its annual list of the top ten "Movers and Shakers" of Ventura placed Christie at number one on the list. The newspaper wrote: "A colorful, well-spoken individual...ever articulate...Christie brings an undeniable sense of character to Ventura". In the spring of 1998, a group of teenagers who were friends with the younger Hells Angels founded a gang known as the Outfit. Christie insists that there was no connection between himself and the Outfit, but his son was one of the leaders of the Outfit. One policeman, Monty Pulido, noticed that in the spring of 1998: "On one of the side streets near the school, I would see a couple of full patch Hells Angels sitting on their bikes after school. They'd be talking to a couple of kids". At the same time, the police noticed that the drug Vicodin, a pain killer known for being very addictive, had become popular with high school students in Ventura county. The Outfit wore as a sort of uniform clothing that was colored red and white (the colors of the Hells Angels) and many members had the phone numbers of the Hells Angels listed in their cell phones. Members of the Outfit performed chores for the Hells Angels and served as their spies, watching the movements of the police. One member of the Outfit in an email to another wrote: "Do you ever see George Christie in jail? That's because he runs his shit right. What I'm seeing and hearing is that our shit is known. We are targets for the police". At the same time, Christie was the subject of an investigation into tax evasion and money laundering with the charge being made that the Ink House was a front for money laundering. Christie had been the subject of a joint federal-state-county task force investigation that involved the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the District Attorney's Office of Ventura County; the California Highway Patrol; the Internal Revenue Service, the Ventura County Police Department; the Secret Service; and the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. The District Attorney of Ventura, Michael Bradbury, gave orders to have Christie "prosecuted whatever it takes" and assigned a new team led by Jeffery Bennett and Mark Pachowitz for that task. On May 18, 1998, the police raided the Ink House, Christie's home, and the house of Christie's ex-wife, Cheryl, who served as the accountant for the Ventura chapter. Found inside of the Ink House were 1,393 pills of Vicodin; about 12 Vicodin pills at Christie's house and at Cheryl Christie's house 23 bottles with 500 Vicodin pills each and 28 bottles with 100 pills each. At the time, Vicodin addiction had become a serious problem with Ventura teenagers with many high school students taking as many as 24 Vicodin pills per day. A number of Outfit members were arrested at the time for selling Vicodin, which led the police to suspect there was a link between Christie and the Outfit. The police discovered via the serial numbers on their lids that the Vicodin pills found on the Christie properties and at the Ink House were manufactured for the United States Air Force and had been stolen by an Air Force pharmacy clerk, Joshua Adams, who was selling them on the black market to a Hells Angels associate, Rogelio Botello. Adams had stolen over 700, 000 pills from the pharmacy at the Air Force base he was stationed at. The police put Botello and Adams under investigation. In October 1998, Botello was recorded by a police wiretap as saying that the Hells Angels were the only source of Vicodin in California and that the price for Vicodin was $700 per bottle. One Hells Angels of the Ventura chapter, Kenny Collins, was recorded as saying that the Hells Angels controlled the market for Vicodin and methamphetamine in Ventura county. When Barger moved to Arizona in October 1998, Christie reportedly took over the daily operations of the Hells Angels in California. In early 1999, Christie played a key role in negotiating the end of the long-standing biker war that the Hells Angels had been waging against the Outlaws ever since 1969. In March 1999, Christie received a delegation of Outlaws at the Ventura County clubhouse for the peace talks. An indictment filed by the Ventura County District Attorney stated that the Hells Angels sold Vicodin and Valium to the Outfit between June 1997 and January 1999 with the intention "to sell and distribute to minors". The same indictment alleged that a member of the Outfit celebrated his birthday at the Hells Angels clubhouse, an allegation that Christie denies. Christie stated: "I find that is a vague and broad statement. Did we get a cake for him? I don't know who this kid is. I couldn't pick him out of a crowd". However, Christie does admit that teenagers regularly attended parties at his clubhouse. Photographs seized by the police showed a number of teenage girls wearing tight shorts and T-shirts drinking at parties at the Ventura country clubhouse. Christie placed a sign on the wall of the clubhouse which was apparently intended for his teenage guests which gave a message to the effect that whatever happened in the clubhouse was never to be spoken of after leaving the clubhouse. About the allegation that his chapter was selling drugs to teenagers via the Outfit, Christie stated: "I don't care about respectability, but I command respect. How can you respect a man who sells drugs to kids?" Christie admits that he knew Botello, but "not very well at all". About the Vicodin pills seized in his house on May 18, 1998, Christie states that the pills were only for his use and not for sale. Concerning the 25, 000 Vicodin pills seized at his ex-wife's house, he stated: "I'm not a foolish man, and I would not make a statement that those are for personal use". As for the Vicodin pills seized at the Ink House, Christie stated: "They never found my prints. My prints are on nothing". When Sher an Marsden asked Christie why the pills at the Ink House were found in a locked office which he had a key for, he replied: "I do have a key. I wasn't involved, but it came back to bite me". The raids of May 18, 1998 were ordered by Michael Bradbury, the District Attorney (DA) for Ventura county without consulting the federal agencies. Sher and Marsden stated that Bradbury wanted the glory of convicting Christie for himself, and the raids caused the collapse of the task force as the federal agencies pulled out in protest against a DA who did not want to co-operate with them. The loss of the expertise provided by the federal agencies hampered the resulting investigation. The investigation into Christie was plagued by in-fighting as the Sheriff's office and the DA's office proved to be incapable of working together and instead the two offices spied on each other. One Sheriff's deputy recalled that the DA's office hired investigators to follow him around to find out what he knew about Christie while refusing to share intelligence, which made for a highly dysfunctional and poisonous working relationship with the DA's office. Senior deputy assistant DA Jeffery Bennett had prepared a "sting" operation under which bottles full of fake Vicodin pills were to be supplied to Botello out of the hope that he would give them to Christie, but the Sheriff's office arrested Botello before the "sting" could be executed. The Sheriff's office were able to pressure one member of the Ventura chapter, Paul Wilson, to turn state's evidence in exchange for a lighter sentence after he was arrested for drug possession. Wilson wore a wire to meetings of the Ventura chapter, but Christie communicated by writing on an erasable board. One Sheriff's deputy stated "Christie isn't stupid". The Ventura police arrested David Gerradin, the vice president of the Ventura chapter, and persuaded him to turn state's evidence after he failed to register as a sex offender, which would have been his third conviction under California's "three strikes" law. The DA's office was able to have the task of running him as an informer transferred over to them. Coronado stated: "We screwed up. We should have kept him". Gerradin, a drug addict known for being a bully, proved to be a difficult informer to handle. Gerradin did not wear a wire to his meetings with Christie and instead gave verbal briefings to the DA's office after his meetings with Christie. Coronado declared: "He could have gone in and talked to George about anything in the world. They never did it. There was so much potential to take down the Ventura chapter, but they let it get away from them. I could have sworn that we were all on the same side working on the same crooks!" The DA's office itself was plagued by in-fighting as the District Attorney, Michael Bradbury, removed the senior assistant DA, Mark Pachowitz, from the Christie case, leaving Bennett's efforts to be crippled. Bennett stated: "Half the case was in Mark's head, the other half was in mine. I tried to tell the boss it was like sawing off my leg".


Convictions

The DA's office and the Sheriff's office led separate and rival investigations into Christie. The Sheriff's office was able via informers to have drugs purchased 25 times from the members of the Angels' Ventura chapter in 1998 and 1999. In April 1999, the Sheriff of Ventura County announced in a press conference that nine Hells Angels had been arrested on charges of selling Vicodin, Valium, cocaine and methamphetamines. In July 2000, Bennet called for a grand jury to issue indictments, which took eight months and 186 witnesses as the DA's office had only a circumstantial case against Christie. On 23 February 2001, Christie was arrested and was charged with 57 counts of theft, fraud, tax evasion, drug sales to minors and the use of a street gang in a criminal conspiracy. The judge agreed to the DA's demand that Christie post $1 million in cash in bail and Christie spent almost the next year in jail as he was unable to raise the necessary $1 million. On January 9, 2002, he was released on bail after the judge ruled that he could use his property worth $2 million as a bail surety. Being held in solitary confinement for nearly a year in the Ventura county jail imposed a visible physical strain on Christie and it was observed that his jail experiences had aged him. The case did not go to trial following a ruling on another case that a grand jury indictment was invalid because women were underrepresented on the grand jury. As men were overrepresented on the grand jury that had indicted Christie, Bennett was faced with the choice of either dropping the charges or bringing in a new and more gender-balanced grand jury to indict Christie again. On January 13, 2002, Bennett reached a plea bargain with Christie. On March 19, 2002, Christie pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess Vicodin with the intention of sales and pledged no contest to the charge of filing false tax returns. The rest of the charges against Christie were dropped as per the plea bargain. Christie stated: "Hey, they want their pound of flesh. Maybe this is the time to give it to them. You never know what can happen in a trial". At Christie's sentencing hearing on 18 April 2002, Bennett asked for seven years in prison, but the judge sentenced Christie to 390 days in prison with credit for the time served in jail, which meant he served almost no prison time. Christie said of his conviction: "I am a lucky criminal. Yes, I am lucky. But I also wasn't guilty". Christie ''fils'' resigned from the Hells Angels to become a chef. Christie ''pere'' said in 2005 of his son's decision to leave the Angels: "I tried to talk him out of it. Maybe someday he'll come back. The door is open". Christie remained proud of being a Hells Angel as Sher and Marsden noted in 2006 that he had a number of Filthy Few patches which the police say is awarded to those who kill for the Angels. Christie denies the allegation: "That's what law enforcement says. I say it's for the people that are the core of the partying aspect of the club". Alongside his Filthy Few patches on his living room wall were photographs of Christie with the actors Mickey Rourke and David Carradine. Christie owned two properties in Ventura with a house in the city and an estate in Oak View. Sher and Marsden described Christie's living room as typical of a cultured ''haute-bourgeois'' businessman full of books such as a retrospective of the work of
Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
and ''The Yale Shakespeare'' along with DVD collections of ''The Sopranos'' TV show and ''The Godfather'' films. Christie remains angry about the allegations as he stated in 2006: "I don't want my legacy to be that I sold drugs to kids, that the Ventura HA sold drugs to kids or that the Hells Angels at large sold drugs to kids or had anything to do with that". Christie does admit that his chapter's association with the Outfit and allowing teenagers to attend parties at his clubhouse were errors as he declared: "I never thought in a million years that the police would take this allegation of selling drugs to kids, latch on to it and just beat it into the ground". In late 2004, when the long-time Ventura police chief, Mike Tracy, retired, Christie took part in the send-off video as he extolled his friendship with Tracy. Christie told Sher and Marsden: "I am who I am, and I make no apologies for anything I've done. We are a society onto ourselves. We govern ourselves. We discipline ourselves". When Sher and Marsden asked him if he was the leader of a criminal conspiracy or just merely a weak leader who was unable to stop the members of his chapter from selling drugs, Christie grew uncomfortable and stated: "Certainly nobody wants to be considered a bad leader. So the question you're asking encompasses a lot of issues of morality, friendship. You can't control what everybody's doing all the time and sometimes it's better not to know. You know we're not Boy Scouts, nor do we pretend to be Boy Scouts". Christie then pointed to his chess case and said: "They are learning from their mistakes and I'm learning from my mistakes. I think we're having a rematch". The Christie case was the longest and most expensive criminal case in the history of Ventura. Sher and Marsden wrote that the Christie case was a case where no-one won. The investigation and prosecution of Christie costed millions, and many in Ventura county were unhappy that the case ended with a plea bargain given the vast sums of money that had been spent. The way that the police and prosecutors involved in the Christie case were caught up in ego-driven feuds and dysfunctional working relationships did much damage to the reputation of law enforcement in Ventura. Coronado called the Christie case a "complete failure" with Christie being convicted of only one "lightweight crap" count in a plea bargain. The majority of the members of the Outfit were convicted on various counts of assault, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, possession of controlled substances and in cases of two Outfit members who stabbed a man to death at a concert in July 1998 second degree murder. Most of the Pierpont Rats gang were convicted of various drug and conspiracy charges, and Castelanos stated: "At first they liked the power, the glory. Then they started realizing that George was just using them". Of the Hells Angels' Ventura chapter, 16 were convicted of various counts of criminal conspiracy and drug possession charges. Of the 16 convicted, 8 were "full patch" members and in a damaging move for the reputation of the Hells Angels 5 made plea bargains where they pledged guilty to criminal conspiracy charges "in association with a criminal street gang". The case did much damage to Christie's reputation among the Hells Angels with the feeling being that he was a poor judge of character as many members of his chapter turned state's evidence. Botello was convicted of criminal conspiracy charges and received 6 years in prison. Adams was given a dishonorable discharge from the Air Force and was sentenced to 4 years in prison after his conviction. Sher and Marsden wrote that the biggest losers in the Christie case were the countless teenagers who became addicted to Vicodin who ended up dropping out of the middle class into poverty owing to their substance abuse. In 2008, Christie pleaded guilty to one count of the possession of 2 grams of cocaine and methamphetamine and another count of being under the influence of a controlled substance. His sentence was eight months of probation.


Retirement

In April 2011, Christie retired from the Hells Angels. At a meeting, Christie announced his resignation under the grounds that the Hells Angels had become too combative and he believed that the resulting aggression would be turned inward. Christie then returned his biker's jacket with the Hells Angels patch to his club, saying he was no longer a Hells Angel. Scott Sutton, the current president of the Ventura county chapter claimed in 2015 that Christie retired because he was on the brink of being expelled as he accused him of an abuse of power. Barger placed Christie in a state of disgrace as being "out bad". Barger banned all Hells Angels from having any social contact with Christie. Christie states that he is not in fear of his life, but he is concerned about his break with the Hells Angels. In August 2011, Christie was arrested on charges of ordering the bombings of two tattoo shops in 2007. Christie was accused of ordering the bombings of Scratch the Surface and Twisted Ink tattoo shops, which were competing with the Ink House. At the time of his arrest, Christie was the subject of a documentary being made by a British filmmaker Nick Mead entitled ''American Ride'', which continued to be filmed after his arrest by the FBI. The trial began in January 2013, but on the second day of the trial a plea bargain was struck where Christie pledged guilty to one of the charges in exchange for the other 7 being dropped. Christie pledged guilty to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce. In September 2013, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison. Christie served his sentence at the
Federal Correctional Institution, La Tuna The Federal Correctional Institution, La Tuna (FCI La Tuna) is a low-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Anthony, Texas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. A ...
in Texas. The documentary about Christie by Mead was released in 2013 under the title ''The Last American Outlaw''. In August 2015, Christie hosted the television show the ''Outlaw Chronicles'' about his life on the
History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
. In September 2016, Christie published a memoir, ''Exile on Front Street'', that attacked Barger whom he portrayed as an abusive husband and father who beat his wife and children. Christie also accused Barger of calling the police for help when faced with difficulties, which was a violation of the outlaw biker code. Christie's memoir, ''Exile on Front Street'', was described in a review as offering a near-mythic portrayal of the outlaw biker lifestyle that while amusing downplayed the criminal allegations against him. In 2018, Christie starred in a one-man play, ''Outlaw'', that was based on ''Exile on Front Street''. At present, Christie lives with his wife Nikki in
Ojai Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is ...
.


Books

* * *


References


External links


George Christie's websiteGeorge Christie's Instagram accountInterview with George Christie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, George 1947 births Living people 20th-century American criminals 21st-century American criminals American crime bosses American gangsters of Greek descent American male karateka American male criminals American prisoners and detainees American wushu practitioners Hells Angels Motorcycling mass media people Motorcycling writers People from Ventura, California Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government United States Marine Corps reservists