Pretrial Hearings Postponed in Hells Angels Case

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.

Asked afterward about the discussion, defense lawyer Rick Loftus said jokingly, “I don’t know. I couldn’t hear.”

Criminal defense lawyer James Farley suggested that the presiding judge appoint one jurist to take over the case.

Farley objected to postponing all pretrial hearings in the case until Nov. 16, saying his client, William Wolf, has a right to a trial in the next 60 days. But the objection was overruled.

“We are accomplishing nothing,” Farley said outside the courtroom. “I just want to be able to represent my client and have a judge move this forward.”

Twenty-eight suspects--including nine Hells Angels members, their relatives and associates--were indicted in February after a four-year investigation of alleged drug sales to minors.

According to the indictment, local Hells Angels funneled large quantities of Vicodin and Valium from an Air Force base in El Segundo to high school students in Ventura and Ojai.

The drug pipeline allegedly began with a 23-year-old Los Angeles airman who worked in the medical squadron and extended to the motorcycle gang’s clubhouse in an industrial section of west Ventura.

According to the indictment, pills were also stored at a tattoo parlor owned by Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr. and at the hillside condominium of his ex-wife, Cheryl Christie.

On Monday, George and Cheryl Christie, both 54, appeared separately in Ventura County Superior Court. She recently posted $100,000 bail. George Christie Jr. remains in custody in lieu of $1 million.