Ventura County

The district attorney’s office has filed to seize the Hells Angels’ Ventura headquarters, claiming that the house was used in a widespread drug ring run by the biker group.

But an attorney for Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr., who owns the clubhouse, said the district attorney’s office will have a hard time proving its claim and questioned prosecutors’ motives. Christie is in jail awaiting trial on charges connected to the alleged drug ring.

“They need to prove that property was either bought with criminal proceeds or used for various criminal transactions,” said attorney Anna Ling. “But based on what I’m learning, I think they will have a difficult time with that.”

Ling said prosecutors allege that drugs may have been manufactured and sold from the clubhouse.

Christie, 54, was one of 28 Hells Angels and associates indicted in February on suspicion of drug sales. Prosecutors allege that Christie ran a gang that stole drugs from an Air Force base and sold them to high school students in Ventura and Ojai. Among those arrested were Christie’s 25-year-old son, George Christie III; his daughter, Moriya; and his ex-wife, Cheryl.

Ling, who did not know the value of the clubhouse, said that at least two people had been living at the residence on 65 Fix Way, but she did not know whether anyone was there currently. According to court documents in the case, each member of the gang--there are estimated to be at least 25 in the Ventura chapter--has a key to the clubhouse.

Ling said it is not unusual for law enforcement to begin to go after assets in a case like this, even before a conviction. A conviction, Ling said, is required before any property can be seized by authorities.

“A lot of police agencies get a percentage of the forfeiture,” Ling said. “So that’s always an underlying incentive, because whatever they seize, they get a cut.”

Joseph Hyman of Ojai also is fighting the district attorney’s claim, alleging that he is the lien holder for the house and is still owed more than $50,000.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Hendrickson did not return calls regarding the case, and co-counsel Jeff Bennett, who is a lead prosecutor in the criminal case, declined to comment.

The seizure request was scheduled to be heard in a Ventura courtroom Tuesday but was rescheduled for Aug. 27.

The criminal case will resume in October.

Christie is a co-founder of the Ventura chapter of the biker gang and a national club spokesman. He is in jail in lieu of $1-million bail and has pleaded not guilty to 23 charges of drug sales and racketeering. He is also charged with tax evasion, grand theft, fraud and firearms possession.

The case involved a four-year investigation by the district attorney’s office.