Democratic donor Ed Buck charged with running 'drug den' after another man overdosed in Los Angeles home -
The Los Angeles County prosecutor said he accused Democratic donor and LGBTQ activist Ed Buck of running a pharmaceutical company and other crimes after a man took a meth overdose in Buck's apartment last week. The man survived, but two other men died from an overdose in Buck's apartment for the past two years.
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| Usatoday |
Buck was arrested Tuesday night - after months in which activists and relatives of those who have died have requested criminal charges related to suspicious circumstances related to the death of 26-year-old Gemmel Moore in 2017 and Timothy Michael Dean, 55 . in January.
Buck, who is 65, now faces a large number of batteries causing serious injury, methamphetamine administration and home remedies.
"If sentenced, he could be sentenced to a maximum sentence of five years and eight months in a state prison," said Greg Risling, assistant chief of media relations at the Los Angeles County Procuratorate.
The most recent overdose occurred on September 11. Prosecutors reported that Buck injected a 37-year-old man with methamphetamine into Buck's apartment on Laurel Avenue in West Hollywood. The man was given an overdose but survived.
Supporters of Moore and Dean have long accused Buck of being a sexual predator who has attracted black and dodgy gays to his Hollywood home. As reported by the KCRW member station this summer, Buck was accused of putting pressure on men to use drugs, especially methacrylate.
After Moore's death, police said they had found drug paraphernalia scattered around the scene at the Bucks home, including syringes, tubes and plastic bags. The coroner blamed the death for an accidental overdose, but a murder investigation was launched following the publication of Moore's diary several weeks later. In it, Moore accused Buck of introducing him to methamphetamine.
"I honestly don't know what to do. I am already addicted to drugs and the worst," Moore wrote, according to his family's website. He added: "Ed Buck has to thank you."
The prosecutor chose not to sue Buck for Moore's death. Earlier this year, Moore's mother, LaTisha Nixon, filed a false death lawsuit against Buck and Los Angeles county officials. He said Dean's death could have been avoided had authorities charged Buck for 2017.
For more than two years, activists claim Buck was not charged with crime because he was white, rich and had political connections. Now they have welcomed the news that he was arrested.
"We're really excited," writer and activist Jasmyne Cannick said via Twitter. “The lives of black gay people are important. All the black LGBT community is celebrating tonight because our lives are important. ”
Cannick, who firmly accused prosecutors and the Los Angeles County sheriff's department of not stopping the cruel predators, claimed to have gathered much evidence against Buck, published interviews and other online material. The next step, in his opinion, was to face further accusations of Moore and Dean's death.
After Dean died earlier this year, Buck's attorney Seymour Amster insisted his client was innocent of any crime.
"This is not a situation where Mr. Buck caused death," Amster said. "This is a situation where Mr. Buck has an old friend who unfortunately does not manage his life well."
The prosecutor has recommended that Buck's security deposit be set at $ 4 million.
"I am very concerned about the safety of people whose living conditions can make them more vulnerable to criminal predators," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, a recent evidence of a 37-year-old overdose at the Bucks recently. the apartment had encouraged him to bring a case against Buck.
Buck has donated thousands of dollars to candidates and Democratic organizations. According to the Open Secrets Donor Monitoring site, some of its most important contributions are from the Getting Stuff Done PAC, a Phoenix-based political action committee.
