What will happen to Ed Buck?
Criminal defense attorney David Bruno weighs in on Ed Buck's future after a third man overdoses at his home.
Prosecutors allege Democratic megadonor Ed Buck tried to stop a man whom he allegedly had injected with methamphetamine from leaving his West Hollywood apartment to call 911.
Prosecutors in court documents alleged he personally gave a dangerous dose of methamphetamine to an unnamed man who survived an overdose on Sept. 4, according to the Los Angeles Times.
On Sept. 11, the man returned and Buck injected him with two more dangerous doses, refused to help him and “thwarted” his efforts to get help until the man fled the apartment and called 911 from a gas station, prosecutors alleged.
The New York Post reported that the victim was treated at a hospital and survived.
“His deadly behavior has not stopped,” prosecutors said in the court documents.
Buck’s “predatory acts and willful disregard for human life must be stopped before another life is lost,” the documents said.
CLINTON, OBAMA SILENT ON ED BUCK DONATIONS
In addition to operating a drug house, Buck is charged with furnishing methamphetamine and with battery causing serious bodily injury.
Thursday it was announced Buck is now facing federal charges: one count of distribution of methamphetamine resulting in death, which could lead to a mandatory 20 years in prison minimum, up to life without parole if convicted.
Messages to his attorney, Seymour Amster, were not immediately returned.
Buck came under investigation in January after 55-year-old Timothy Dean was found dead of an accidental methamphetamine overdose in his apartment. In July 2017, Gemmel Moore, 26, also died from a methamphetamine overdose at Buck’s home.
Both men were black. Buck, who is white, was not charged and critics later questioned if wealth, race or political ties influenced the investigation.
Moore’s mother, LaTisha Nixon, “is relieved that Ed Buck is no longer on the streets and free to continue harming black men,” her lawyer, Hussain Turk, said Wednesday.
“She is also disappointed that the county’s criminal charges against Ed Buck do not include charges for homicide,” Turk said.
Buck was taken into custody Tuesday, and prosecutors argued in court documents that he should be held on $4 million bail because he is a “violent, dangerous sexual predator” who offered drugs, money and shelter to mainly addicted and homeless men in exchange for participating in sexual fetishes. One fetish involved administering dangerous doses of drugs, the documents said.
Buck, 65, has donated tens of thousands of dollars to California candidates, including Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, and is well known in LGBTQ political circles. According to federal records, Buck contributed more than $500,000 to Democratic groups, including $1,500 to the Obama campaign and $2,950 to the Hillary Clinton campaign.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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