Prominent Democratic Donor Ed Buck Arrested and Charged After Third Man Overdoses In His Home

Well known LGBTQ political activist and Democratic donor, Ed Buck, was recently arrested and charged with operating a drug house.  

Prosecutors allege that Buck is a violent sexual predator who preys on men who are struggling with addiction and homelessness, baiting them with drugs money and shelter. 

“From his home, in a position of power, Buck manipulates his victim into participating in his sexual fetishes,” prosecutors wrote in court papers. “These fetishes include supplying and personally administering dangerously large doses of narcotics to his victims…Not deterred by the senseless deaths of Moore and Dean, the defendant nearly killed a third victim last week.” 

According to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office, Buck is being charged with one count each of battery causing serious injury, administering methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house. 

He is accused of injecting a 37-year-old man, identified as “Joe Doe” with methamphetamine on September 11th. Although the man overdosed, he subsequently survived. 

This is just the latest incident for Buck, who was already under heavy scrutiny after two men were found dead in his Laurel avenue apartment in West Hollywood. The men in both those cases, Gemmel Moore, 26 and Timothy Dean, 55 were African American and overdosed on methamphetamine. 

After the first death in 2017, authorities investigated but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to file charges.   Since then Buck has been subject to protests and calls for prosecution in these overdose deaths. 

Buck 65, known as a megadonor, is a former model and actor who became involved in politics in the mid-1980s. Since then, he’s made big-dollar donations to Democratic politicians and is a well-known figure in LGBTQ political circles.

If convicted on all charges, Buck faces a possible maximum sentence of five years and eight months in state prison.