Hells Angel Under House Arrest Seeks to Attend Mother’s Funeral

Indicted Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr. and his son are pleading for court permission to attend the funeral of Christie’s mother, who died Thursday from complications of pancreatic cancer.

The 54-year-old Christie remains under house arrest a year after being indicted on racketeering charges for allegedly running a narcotics ring that sold drugs to teenagers.

Under the terms of his release, Christie cannot leave his Ventura residence except to make court appearances.

For a while, 82-year-old Georgia Christie, who lived in Ventura, visited her son at his home, but when her condition deteriorated last month their visits stopped.

Advised that her death was imminent, Christie obtained an emergency court order Thursday and was allowed to go to her bedside. She died an hour after he arrived.

Now, amid planning funeral arrangements, Christie says he and his 25-year-old son, who remains jailed on the same charges, are seeking permission to attend the services.

“I would hope that the court would grant all of our family members permission to attend the funeral and I have a feeling they are going to,” Christie said Friday.

His son appeared in Ventura County Superior Court on Friday afternoon and made a request for a 24-hour furlough from jail, which prosecutors opposed.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin Suh argued that George Christie III is being held on serious charges in lieu of $1-million bail.

Judge Kevin McGee agreed that it would not be appropriate to release Christie on his own recognizance to attend the service. But McGee expressed sympathy for the situation and gave the defense two days to come up with an alternative proposal, such as electronic monitoring.

Meanwhile, the elder Christie said his lawyer is trying to negotiate modifications to his house arrest to attend the funeral.

“The district attorney’s office has a job to do and I understand that,” he said.

“It is something I have to deal with in order to put my mother to rest.”

Christie, his ex-wife, their son and several members of the Ventura chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club were indicted last year on narcotics charges.

Christie spent 11 months behind bars before posting a $1-million bond in early January. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, tax evasion, selling drugs to minors and the use of a street gang in a criminal conspiracy.

No trial date has been set.