A federal grand jury indicted Ed Buck, the notorious Democratic donor, on two federal drug charges regarding two cases in which men died of methamphetamine overdoses at his home in West Hollywood, California on Wednesday.
Buck was arrested last month after a third man overdosed at his apartment and survived. He has been accused of preying on predominantly black, gay men and injecting them with meth himself. Prosecutors said that they have identified at least 11 victims in the past two years.
Each of the charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. In 2017, 26-year-old Gemmel Moore fatally overdosed on meth at Buck’s apartment. In January, 55-year-old Timothy Dean was found dead on the floor in Buck’s living room, just like Moore.
Charges from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office include battery causing serious injury, administering meth, and maintaining a drug house.
The indictment said: “Buck exerted power over his victims, often targeting vulnerable individuals who were destitute, homeless, and/or struggled with drug addiction, in order to exploit the relative wealth and power imbalance between them.”
Prosecutors previously called Buck a “violent, dangerous sexual predator.” The indictment also said that Buck would pressure victims to do meth, offering them more money if they took larger doses or let him inject them.
According to one victim, Buck was known as “Doctor [Jack] Kevorkian,” a euthanasia proponent who was known for administering physician-assisted suicide. Kevorkian, also known as “Dr. Death,” was in prison for 8 years.
Previously, a lawyer for Buck had denied his responsibility in Moore’s and Dean’s deaths.
The indictment charged Buck with giving meth to three additional men. In one case, Buck apparently wanted one of the men to leave his apartment and “threatened him with a power saw.” In September, another man allegedly overdosed twice in one week. He was able to escape and find help.
One man apparently said that he thought that Buck injected him with drugs while he was sleeping. Yet another said that Buck had given him a syringe that he believed contained meth and a tranquilizer. He reportedly was unable to move for more than six hours.