Ed Buck, a Democratic political donor and the subject of a movie about his crimes, has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for providing fatal doses of methamphetamine to two men at his West Hollywood apartment.
Buck, 67, was sentenced on Thursday, April 14 in Los Angeles.
Federal prosecutors, who had asked for a life sentence, said Buck caused the victims’ deaths as a result of a “fetish” of injecting men with meth until they became comatose during sexual encounters.
“In these party-and-play sessions, Buck distributed drugs, including methamphetamine, GHB (the ‘date rape’ drug), and clonazepam,” prosecutors said in a statement Thursday. “In some instances, Buck injected victims with drugs intravenously in a practice known as ‘slamming.'”
Related Story: ‘Beyond Ed Buck’ Shows How Democratic Donor Killed Black Men ‘In Plain Sight’
Buck was first arrested in September 2019, after 55-year-old Timothy Dean was found dead in his home.
Two years earlier, 26-year-old Gemmel Moore was also found dead by overdose in Buck’s apartment, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department declined to file charges.
Following Moore’s death, multiple reports emerged saying Buck had a history of drugging young, gay, at-risk Black men and bringing them to his home for sex. These reports, as well as pressure from activists, led to his 2019 arrest.
Buck previously donated large sums of money to prominent Democratic politicians including former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, California Rep. Adam B. Schiff and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Related Story: Compton Man Beaten by LA Sheriff’s Deputies in Viral Video Speaks Out: They Treated Me Like An Animal
Earlier this year, a documentary film exploring the case was released to streaming services. Beyond Ed Buck aimed not only to answer the question of “why” the murders occurred, but also looked to further explore the obstacles that LGBTQ+ Black and Brown people face in both their communities and society at large.
July 2021, a federal jury found Buck 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.
More than 20 witnesses were called to the stand by federal prosecutors, including four men who said that Buck pressured them until they allowed him to inject them with meth.
An acquittal motion from Buck’s defense that attempted to discredit the witnesses due to their suffering from homelessness was dismissed earlier this month. Buck’s attorneys had argued he was “kink-shamed,” but U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder disagreed.
The image above is courtesy of Shutterstock.
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