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PBD Podcast

Hells Angels Boss Opens Up - George Christie | PBD Podcast #723

22 Jan 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What does George Christie reveal about wanting to be an outlaw?

0.031 - 1.913 Unknown

Always wanted to be an outlaw, not a criminal.

0

2.514 - 5.236 Patrick Bet-David

What made Sonny so powerful?

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Chapter 2: How did Sonny Barger gain his power and reputation?

5.336 - 8.8 Patrick Bet-David

What was his reputation?

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8.82 - 10.161 George Christie

Why don't you people go home?

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10.181 - 19.151 Unknown

Sonny's a very complicated man. If it wasn't Sonny's idea, it wasn't a good idea. No matter if it benefited everybody or not.

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19.171 - 25.397 George Christie

The chaotic concern for what these people are doing to our great nation may provoke violent acts of violence.

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25.417 - 32.719 Unknown

Sonny saw the club as something that belonged to him. Other members saw themselves as part of a club.

33.039 - 35.302 Patrick Bet-David

How did you maneuver your way up to that kind of power?

35.382 - 49.638 Unknown

How can you have respect without fear? I think you've got to have a little fear. The bomb they planted didn't go off. He told me, you're going to go retrieve the bomb that didn't go off. And I said, why am I going to retrieve it?

Chapter 3: What philosophical differences exist between George Christie and Sonny Barger?

49.658 - 65.524 Unknown

I go, I didn't make the bomb. To be an effective peacemaker, you have to be willing to go to war. That was kind of my philosophy. I was strictly for peace, which was a very unpopular position in the Outlaw. How come nobody kills him? How come he lives till 83? How does he live till 83?

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65.544 - 77.642 Unknown

Well, I think that... I'm going to say something here that a lot of people know the Hells Angel history and perhaps are watching this.

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91.46 - 96.947 George Christie

Did you ever think you would make it?

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96.967 - 101.632 Unknown

I feel I'm supposed to take sweet victory. I know this life meant for me. Adam, what's your point?

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101.652 - 109.943 Patrick Bet-David

The future looks bright. A handshake is better than anything I ever saw. It's right here. You are a one-on-one? My son's right there.

Chapter 4: How did George Christie navigate his rise within the Hells Angels?

110.043 - 115.489 Unknown

I don't think I've ever said this before.

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117.091 - 118.513 Patrick Bet-David

George Christie, great to have you on.

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118.797 - 120.459 Unknown

Thank you, appreciate being here.

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120.579 - 143.708 Patrick Bet-David

Yes, so your story, I grew up in LA, Glendale, we were talking about earlier. Glendale. Yes, and La Crescenta, Crescenta Valley had a lot of Mongols, Hells Angels, and one of my friends was part of the gang for 20 plus years. His name was Jim Padrick, he's no longer here with us. And he would always tell me stories, what it was like, how he got in, the fights, the wars, you guys had many of them.

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143.688 - 159.483 Patrick Bet-David

A lot of wars, a lot of history. A lot of histories, a lot of war, and I want to get into it. And for you, when you think about Hells Angels, a couple names come up. We hear Sonny Barger and we hear George Christie. These are the two names. Of course, there's other names. I don't want to say there isn't.

159.523 - 190.659 Unknown

The club was built on a foundation of many people's input, but yeah, that's a fair assessment. Sonny Barger was my senior, one of my... My greatest memories was when he came back from prison and I met him. I had been in the club. I was kind of a rising political input in the club, kind of creating my own base. And I went to Oakland on some unrelated business.

192.121 - 217.676 Unknown

One of our members that was a very strong member of Ventura, Irish O'Farrell, wanted to transfer to Oakland because Sonny wanted him up there. And ultimately he took Sonny's place as a leader when Sonny came down with cancer. But after the end of the conversation, Russell Baya, another Oakland heavyweight said to me, there's someone up the street that wants to talk to you. He'd like to meet you.

218.377 - 235.889 Unknown

And I knew who, I knew it was Sonny. And, uh, uh, It's like meeting a football star or a boxing star. We went down to Sonny's house, rode our bikes down there. He came out and greeted us. I spent several hours in his house talking. It was an incredible experience.

236.009 - 237.572 Patrick Bet-David

This is the first time you met him?

Chapter 5: Why did Paul Castellano end up dead in front of Spark Steakhouse?

4017.21 - 4048.998 Unknown

But why did Paul Castellano wind up dead in front of Spark Steakhouse? There's one reason why, and only one reason. John Gotti. Because John Gotti had the balls to do it. And imagine failing at killing John, excuse me, Paul Castellano. Same thing with Sonny. Somebody goes to Arizona to Sonny's house and they fail killing him. I mean... You know, that's a pretty heavy... If you fail? If you fail.

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4049.018 - 4067.52 Patrick Bet-David

I mean, if you're a professional, you're not going to fail. You know, if you're in that space, you're not going to fail. Because you guys were good at explosives. You guys were... It was a very different method. By the way, how did you guys make money? What was the business model of making money in Hells Angels?

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4067.54 - 4095.74 Unknown

Well, look, my position has always been... Let me back up. The government's position has always been the Hells Angels are a criminal organization. My position has always been the Hells Angels are not a criminal organization. but I will concede it's an organization with criminals in it. Now, some of the guys are so greedy that they've got these little side things going.

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4096.12 - 4119.08 Unknown

They don't share them with the general membership. They want the money for themselves. Kenny Owens and I were friends. Kenny Owens went to prison for 41 years. He was a crank cooker. In 1986, I was indicted by the FBI for They said I ordered somebody's murder, and it was a government sting. Ultimately, I spent a year in federal prison.

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4119.14 - 4139.321 Unknown

Ultimately, Barry Tarlow got me not guilty, and I beat the government, which is very difficult to do. They got, what, a 98% conviction rate. And I think that I lost my train of thought.

4140.044 - 4141.549 Patrick Bet-David

I see your question. How did you guys make money?

4141.609 - 4173.741 Unknown

Yeah, okay. So what happens is people... doing their little things, don't share it with people. So I go to Kenny Owens and I say, Kenny, I got a big bill coming up. This is an emissary goes to him because I'm in jail. And I said, can you give me $10,000 to apply to my legal fees? And he goes, George, I'd love to help you out, but I'm broke. And this is the message that comes back to me.

4173.761 - 4193.623 Unknown

So, I don't know, six months later, three months later, it's not very long. The feds raid his house. He's got $3 million and 30 pounds of crank. So what's funny and ironic is he gets out of prison. He gets sentenced to 41 years. He does like 26 years, 27 years.

4194.11 - 4216.883 Unknown

In the end of the 2008 or whatever, he gets out, he gets paroled out, and he's not allowed to be around the club, but if you bring your motorcycle to him, because he's got a motorcycle shop, you can take your motorcycle. The government can't deny him for making a living. So I ride up there, I take my motorcycle there and have him do some electrical work on it.

Chapter 6: What was the business model of making money in Hells Angels?

4236.47 - 4249.974 Patrick Bet-David

They did help you out. Yeah, and I think... But what was the business model? Like, I read one of the stories, this guy named Josh Adams, you know, the 23-year-old, the airman who had the 700,000 Valium and Vicodin pills, and I don't know what it was.

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Chapter 7: How did George Christie make money while involved with Hells Angels?

4250.054 - 4251.417 Unknown

I think it was closer to a million.

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4251.677 - 4254.102 Patrick Bet-David

Million pills. Yeah. What is that story about?

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4254.122 - 4288.883 Unknown

Well, my son and his friends... had a friend that became an airman. And his job was he worked in the pharmacy. And he had complete control over the ordering, the distribution. And my son, little George, rest in peace, he's no longer with us. Sorry to hear. Yeah, a great kid. Long time ago? 10 years ago. He was 39 at the time.

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4289.572 - 4291.234 Patrick Bet-David

Was he in the life or no, he didn't go in?

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4291.375 - 4292.436 Unknown

Oh, he was a Hell's Angel.

4292.556 - 4293.237 Patrick Bet-David

He was a Hell's Angel.

4293.297 - 4325.547 Unknown

He was a Hell's Angel. Him and several of the, we called them the YGs, the young guys. They were part of the new crew that joined the club in the mid-90s. They started bringing Vicodin into town and saturated the market. And you figure... What do you sell a Vicodin pill for? What does it cost? The government paid for it all. I mean, these guys were cutting the money up.

4326.608 - 4327.349 Patrick Bet-David

This is 80s?

4327.849 - 4359.927 Unknown

No, this is in 1999, 2000. So 56 people, 36 people got indicted. and including myself, they said we were controlling the Vicodin market in Ventura County. And of course it was a 59 count state racketeering charge and it collapsed under its own weight. I mean, it was a house of cards to begin with, but

Chapter 8: What does George Christie predict about the future of Hells Angels?

4424.344 - 4425.045 Patrick Bet-David

Yes. 97.

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4425.305 - 4437.023 Unknown

I'm top of my game. The rumor in law enforcement is Sonny's retired in Arizona. George Christie's now the— Why does everybody retire in Arizona or Florida?

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4437.063 - 4443.694 Patrick Bet-David

That's where Bonanno retired. What is it with Arizona? Is that where you're going? Is that where they give you annuities? Is it like a benefit plan?

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4444.074 - 4453.789 Unknown

Well, they have a special gangster retirement fund there. A special gangster retirement fund. So, you know, where's Sammy the Bull? Arizona.

0

4454.09 - 4454.19

Okay.

4455.267 - 4457.39 Unknown

I'm being a smartass.

4457.47 - 4461.236 Patrick Bet-David

I know you are. So a million pills, let's say at the time.

4461.276 - 4490.728 Unknown

And you know how they got caught? They come into the house. The 30,000 pills. Yes, they come into the house, they find the 30,000. What they fail to realize, they get so excited, they stop the search for the ledger books and they focus on the pills. In the garage is another 60,000 pills that they never discover because these guys are so inexperienced. And they just end the search.

4490.788 - 4513.67 Unknown

They go, we found it. But you know how they got caught? They didn't take the pills out of the bottles. And the IBM codes were on the pills. And one of the detectives went to the company, ran the codes, and they go, oh, yeah, these are all going to Andrews Air Force Base out in the desert. And that's how they put it all together.

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