Ed Buck, once a prominent Democratic donor, sentenced to 30 years in prison
By Steve Almasy and Elizabeth Joseph, CNN
Democratic donor Ed Buck, who in 2021 was convicted by a federal jury of nine felonies, including giving methamphetamine to two men who died at his West Hollywood apartment after being injected with the drug, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, a spokesperson for the United States Attorney’s Office Central District of California said Thursday.
Buck, 67, was sentenced to 360 months, said spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy.
Buck was found guilty in 2021 of two counts of distribution of methamphetamine resulting in death, four counts of distribution of methamphetamine, one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises and two counts of enticement to travel in interstate commerce for prostitution.
Gemmel Moore, 26, died of an overdose in July 2017 and Timothy Dean, 55, died in January 2019.
“It was a tremendous honor to be able to vindicate the rights of the victims in the case,” Assistant US Attorney Chelsea Norell said at the time of Buck’s conviction.
According to a 2019 indictment, Buck “engaged in a pattern of soliciting men to consume drugs that Buck provided and perform sexual acts at Buck’s apartment” — a practice described in the document as “party and play.”
The victims were solicited on social media, including a gay dating website, and Buck used a recruiter to scout and proposition men, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said in a news release at the time of his convictions that Buck typically targeted people who were destitute, homeless or struggling with drug addiction.
“He exploited the wealth and power balance between them by offering his victims money to use drugs and to let Buck inject them with narcotics,” prosecutors said in the statement.
Buck has donated to a number of Democratic candidates and PACs, according to information from OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in US politics. Recipients rushed to return Buck’s money after Dean’s death.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Sarah Moon contributed to this report.
