The wealthy political activist Ed Buck, 66, has been found guilty of all nine felony charges relating to the deaths of men in his home.
Buck’s arrest came following the deaths of two individuals. Gemmel Moore, 26, was found dead of an overdose in Buck’s West Hollywood apartment in 2017. Then, 18 months later, Timothy Dean, 55, also died over an overdose while in Buck’s home.
Moore had left a diary in which he said Buck, who is gay, had a fetish for injecting him with meth and had got him addicted. As police investigated the deaths, other men came forward to say that they too had been injected by Buck and had overdosed but survived.
The families of the dead men and other campaigners called for Buck’s arrest, questioning why a wealthy white man was not being held accountable following the deaths of two black men in his residence. They believed racial bias and Buck’s political donations were a factor in him not being charged.
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Buck was finally arrested in September 2019, after another near-death overdose of a man who had been visiting him. Fortunately, that individual was able to escape and alert authorities to what happened.
During his trial, prosecutors said Buck, who had donated around $500,000 to mostly Democratic campaigns and causes since 2000, collected video clips of himself engaged in sexual activities with other men. The prosecution said that of 2,400 videos, more than 1,500 contained drug use.
This included videos of Buck injecting Moore with methamphetamine over Moore’s objections. Another shows Moore passed out as Buck plays with his penis for the camera.
Related: Bombshell: Accused murderer Ed Buck’s 2,400+ sex tapes emerge in court
“Buck’s preference was to personally inject victims, and he pressured or incentivized victims to let him do so, sometimes offering large cash bonuses to coerce a victim to agree to an injection or additional injections,” prosecutors charge in court filings.
“Other times, Buck simply injected victims while they were unconscious.”
Buck had denied the charges, with his defense saying the men who died were drug addicts and both were at Buck’s apartment of their own free will.
The prosecution painted a very different picture, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsay Bailey, during her closing arguments on Friday, telling the jury, “[Buck] would find desolate, vulnerable victims and push meth on them over and over… until they went unconscious.
“That’s what he liked about it – the power gave him sexual gratification.
“Every time he stuck a needle in someone’s arm, he was playing God. And he never stopped – not even after two men died.”
The jury deliberated for four hours after a two-week trial.
“I know this has been an arduous, lengthy and difficult process,” US district judge Christine A Snyder said to jurors as she read the verdict, reports LA Times.
Buck was found guilty 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.
Buck’s attorneys did not comment after the verdict announcement.
A sentencing date is yet to be set. Buck faces life in jail.
Hdtex
Gays4Trump finally got busted.
GaysForTrump
Hdtex,
You’re too stupid to comprehend he was a DEMOCRATIC donor.
Funny, none of those politicians have stepped up to return the money or offer the contribution back to the victims families.
Cam
@GaysForTrump
Awww, the same old right wing troll account deflects the topic away from the Black gay people who were murdered, because it of course has no problem with attacks against LGBTQ people or Black people.
Typical Republican.
Cam
Oh, sorry. I see that GaysForTrump is right. He was a Democratic donor, Hdtex was simply name-calling, and that’s wrong. I apologize and will try to accept facts and be nicer in the future. I’ll try to realize that people aren’t perfect or pure on either side of the aisle.
Hdtex
Gays4Sphincter is upset his little P&P hot house was busted. Typical MAGAt.
Vince
I’ve known many tweakers and the one thing you’ll never have to do is force them to take meth. Plus, they’re always the victims. That’s what they’ll tell you anyways.
Buck was probably a step or two above the freak scale though. However, in that world they’re plenty of Bucks. You have to be a little crazy to inject or let someone inject you since it carries a good possibility of death.
Hdtex
You’re as sick as Buck. Victim shaming shows what scum you are.
Mr. Stadnick
So it was their fault. Wow you are dreadful. Ed Buck is/was a known freak by many in the PnP community. He is the problem not the victims. Blaming victims is the sign of a sick and pathetic mind. You should be ashamed of yourself and get some mental health to find out what is wrong with you to make you so vile.
Vince
One was a long time PNP friend of Bucks and the other was a prostitute that Buck paid. Gremmel would also find others on the street and load them up as well. Then he’d pay them to film it so Buck could enjoy it later. Gee. Sounds like fun!
No one would’ve heard a peep about this or given a shit since drug meth doses happen all the time in places like Weho. However, both of these Meth addicts just happened to be black and Buck is an older white guy who used to be big deal in Democratic politics. Of course that’s going to get peoples attention.
I actually do care but I don’t allow myself to get caught up in politics and stupidity like the shrieking banshees above.
Heywood Jablowme
Vince: Are you saying that if Buck killed two white guys, nobody would have noticed or charged him? Seems unlikely!
Fahd
Seems that he could afford the best in legal defenses, and he was still found guilty within 4 hours by the jury. That seems pretty damning. I suppose the civil wrongful death cases will now try to assign percentage of blame on Buck and his victims in their deaths. There goes his remaining money. Meth is a scourge.
Creamsicle
I mean the man had 2400 videos documenting his drug den. The burden of proof was fulfilled and then some.
Which really begs the question of how this prosecution has taken so long, when the evidence is overwhelming.
Me2
He recorded himself injecting physically impared men with drugs. Some objected, but were too high to do anything about it. Others were sleep and at least two died. The jury got it right!! He’s a disgusting human and deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison!
RyanMBecker
“Other times, Buck simply injected victims while they were unconscious.”
Pardon my naivete and ignorance of drug culture (I’ve never even had a beer in my life), but what was the point of injecting a victim who was already unconscious and unable to stop his abuse? Why waste the meth and risk something going wrong, which was exactly what happened?
Creamsicle
I’ve never done meth, but from all accounts, methamphetamine stays effective in the body for days, which is part of what makes it so addictive and destructive.
More importantly, dosing these men was his sexual obsession. It didn’t matter to him how these men experienced their intoxication, Buck received sexual gratification from administering the drug or watching others administer it themselves.
Kangol2
I’m glad he was convicted on these counts. It took long enough!
Invader7
He’ll BURN in Hell.. He’s a worn out meth head… HE has Super BAD & VERY dark karma…