Prominent Democratic Donor and Gay Activist Ed Buck Arrested on Three Felony Counts

A prominent gay activist and big-money Democratic donor has been arrested on suspicion of operating a drug house.

Ed Buck faces three felony counts — battery, distributing methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house — in the case of 37-year-old man who suffered a drug overdose last week, according to a report Tuesday evening in the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Buck, who will appear in court Wednesday, is accused of injecting the man with meth — at least the third such overdose to which he’s been connected.

Gemmel Moore 26, and Timothy Dean, 55, have both been found dead in Mr. Buck’s West Hollywood apartment. Moore died of a methamphetamine overdose and his family and black activists accused the wealthy gay man of drugging people deliberately and then watching as a sexual fetish.

According to the Times, Moore had worked as a prostitute.

“I remain deeply concerned for the safety of people whose life circumstances may make them more vulnerable to criminal predators,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement. “With this new evidence, I authorized the filing of criminal charges against Ed Buck.”

Mr. Buck, who is 63 and white, was described by the Times as “a longtime political donor, onetime West Hollywood City Council candidate and a well-known figure in LGBTQ political circles.”

The Times report on the latest overdose, on which Mr. Buck has been arrested, did not mention the name or the race of the victim, who survived the overdose.

Prosecutors want bail to be set at $4 million, the Times reported.

Story cited here.

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