Hells Angels

National Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr. and his estranged wife have been arrested on suspicion of narcotics possession after investigators raided their separate Ventura homes, finding a small amount of cocaine in Christie's night stand and large amounts of drugs and cash in his wife's hillside condo. Dist. Atty. Michael D.

A dozen defendants were ordered back to court next month for pretrial hearings in the Hells Angels drug-and-racketeering case as defense lawyers questioned how the courts plan to handle a massive case that could take a year to prosecute. The logistical issues were evident Monday as a dozen defense lawyers and two prosecutors crowded shoulder-to-shoulder for a bench conference with Superior Court Judge James P. Cloninger.

Police are looking into the possibility that a senior Hells Angel nicknamed "Large Larry," who was fatally shot in the head along with his girlfriend, may have been targeted for execution in connection with his membership in the motorcycle club, perhaps by other members. Visiting Hells Angels found the 6-foot-2, 450-pound body of Laurence Richard Lajeunesse on Monday morning in his bed in the back of the industrial garage where he lived and ran an auto dismantling business.

The ex-wife of Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr. was released from jail Thursday morning after four months in custody over drug-and-racketeering allegations involving the biker gang. Cheryl Christie, 54, posted $100,000 bail after a judge ruled that the money had come from a legitimate source.

A federal jury on Friday found the national leader of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club guilty of conspiracy to violate federal firearms and explosives laws in plots to kill members of a rival gang. National leader Ralph (Sonny) Barger Jr. was one of 10 Hells Angels from Alaska and California accused of plotting attacks in Louisville and elsewhere against members of the Outlaws. Barger and Michael Vincent O'Farrell, both of Oakland, were convicted in U.S.

Silent since his drug and racketeering indictment three weeks ago, Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr. maintained Thursday that he had nothing to do with selling drugs to high school students and is a law-abiding businessman with strong family values. "Mr. Christie vigorously denies his involvement in any conspiracy [to distribute] drugs of any kind to any person, whether or not a minor," says a motion to reduce his bail from $1 million to $250,000.

Hells Angels member William "Gunner" Wolf, one of 28 people charged in a sweeping indictment against the motorcycle club, was sentenced Friday to a year in jail for his role in narcotics sales. Wolf, 32, pleaded guilty to five felonies, including selling the prescription drug Vicodin, possessing the club drug Ecstasy for sale and insurance fraud. In exchange for his plea, several dozen additional drug charges were dropped, attorneys said.

Jailed Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr. lost his bid for freedom Monday when a Superior Court judge called his alleged sale of drugs to teenagers "awful" and refused to lower his $1-million bail. Christie, 53, is charged with running a criminal gang that stole drugs from a Los Angeles Air Force base clinic and peddled them to high school students. "I have to accept that the charges are true," Judge Arturo Gutierrez said at a bail hearing. "[If so, that] is awful, targeting minors."