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Ed Buck Found Guilty of All Charges in Drug Overdose Deaths

The 66-year-old could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Democratic megadonor Ed Buck has been found guilty of every charge in a nine-count indictment for his role in the drug overdose deaths of Timothy Dean and Gemmel Moore.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, Buck was convicted of charges of "maintaining a drug den, distribution of methamphetamine, and enticement to cross state lines to engage in prostitution." The 66-year-old was arraigned back in 2019 on federal charges of distributing meth that resulted in the deaths of Dean, 25, and Moore, 26, both Black gay men. To the dismay of Buck's community in West Hollywood, it took the near-fatal overdose of a third Black gay man who partied at Buck's apartment in September 2019 for officials to finally arrest him.

Each of the charges alleging distribution of narcotics leading to death carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years federal imprisonment, and a maximum of life in prison without the possibility for parole.

Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

LOS ANGELES CA SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 -- Prominent Democratic Party donor Ed Buck appears in court Thursday, September 19, 2019, on state charges of running a drug den in his West Hollywood apartment. Buck may also face federal prosecution for an earlier overdose death in the same residence.(Photo by Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The indictment alleges Buck (pictured above) provided meth to both men, who died of fatal overdoses in his apartment, Moore in July 2017, and Dean in January 2019. It says he “engaged in a pattern of soliciting men to consume drugs that Buck provided and perform sexual acts at Buck’s apartment,” using social media, a gay dating site, and a recruiter to scout and solicit them. Buck was also said to have repeatedly targeted “vulnerable individuals who were destitute, homeless, and/or struggled with drug addiction.”

Buck, who was being held in federal custody without bond, reportedly prepared syringes containing meth, sometimes injecting the victims himself — with or without their consent — and injecting them with more of the drug than they were expecting, often while they were unconscious.

His guilty verdict on Tuesday (July 27) follows a harrowing two-week trial that included graphic videos, photos, and testimonies from men who were hired by Buck to strip and get high on meth and GHB. Buck could now spend the rest of his life in prison.

"Ed Buck will never harm anyone else, and I thank God for that," Joyce Jackson, one of Dean's sisters, told reporters at the trial.

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