'Gay rights activist' Ed Buck sentenced to 30 years for forcefully injecting men with meth, killing two
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His actions led to the death of two; Gemmel Moore, 26, and Timothy Dean, 55, along with multiple overdoses, including that of Dane Brown, which eventually led to Buck’s arrest and consequently this sentence
Wealthy political activist, ‘philanthropist’ and Democratic donor Ed Buck has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for supplying and injecting gay men, most of them black, with Methamphetamine (meth).
64-year-old Buck was found guilty on nine counts in July. The charges included distributing meth, and enticing men to travel for prostitution.
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His actions led to the death of two; Gemmel Moore, 26, and Timothy Dean, 55, along with multiple overdoses, including that of Dane Brown, which eventually led to Buck’s arrest and consequently this sentence.
Thursday’s sentence concludes a long saga, in which prosecutors say Buck used his influence and wealth to prey on vulnerable Black men for “party and play” encounters at his apartment in West Hollywood.
The Guardian reported that Buck would pay men for sex, fulfilling his 'fetish' of injecting them with methamphetamine and performing sexual acts on them.
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He would find these men online, and his survivor claim that he had a fetish for injecting drugs into his partners.
Buck defended himself, asking the court to look at his life "in whole". His lawyer Mark Werksman also called Buck a philanthropist who is 'redeemable and worthy and deserves compassion'.
As per his Facebook page, Buck was active in gay and animal rights causes. A number of his Facebook posts showed him with Hillary Clinton, former California governor Jerry Brown, and US Representatives Ted Lieu and Adam Schiff.
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Chelsea Norell, assistant US attorney, countered and called him a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing. She said that at the time of Timothy Dean’s overdose, Buck did not contact 911 right away, instead, he used the time to clean up syringes, pipes, and other drug paraphernalia that was nearby.
Buck was arrested in September 2019, after Dane Brown a young homeless man escaped Buck’s apartment after being injected with Meth by the “philanthropist” and sought help at a nearby gas station. This was the second time that Brown almost overdosed at the hands of Buck and his harrowing tale is what led to the eventual arrest.
(With inputs from agencies)
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