Ed Buck was a major Democrat Donor who was arrested last year after a male prostitute was found dead in his home of an apparent overdose.
Turns out, it wasn’t the first time.
Now, as he awaits trial, The Justice Department has charged him with 4 more felonies.
From NBC News:
Democratic Party donor Ed Buck, who has been accused of plying men with drugs during sexual encounters, is facing new charges.
Prosecutors say Buck solicited men to consume drugs and perform sexual acts at his West Hollywood apartment. Once there, officials say, he allegedly injected the men with or without their consent. He sometimes injected victims while they were unconscious, according to prosecutors.
Buck was previously charged with distributing methamphetamine that led to the overdose deaths of two men at his apartment. He pleaded not guilty to those charges last year.
On Tuesday, a grand jury returned new counts against the 65-year-old including allegations of luring men across state lines for the purpose of prostitution.
Buck is accused of distributing narcotics gamma hydroxybutyric acid and clonazepam, sedatives that the DEA has described as date-rape drugs.
The four felony charges introduced Tuesday are in addition to five counts filed last year, including distribution of methamphetamine and distribution of narcotics resulting in death.
The grand jury folded all nine counts against Buck, who is being held in federal custody without bond, into one filing as a “superseding indictment” Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
“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,” the initial indictment in October alleged.”
For those unfamiliar, CBS Local Los Angeles detailed Buck's political activities over the years:
Before the two deaths at his home, Buck was a well-known activist. Originally from Arizona, he reportedly made around $1 million selling a courier company and moved to West Hollywood in the early 90s.
He’s often referred to as a wealthy donor. CBSLA’s Tom Wait found campaign finance records for federal, state and local donations.
Buck’s biggest political investment was for more than $300,000 to his political action committee called Animal PAC. The organization says it was “formed to represent animal welfare interests throughout California.”
Buck was a well-known animal rights activist. But he has also donated thousands of dollars to various politicians. Many of the donations were made years before the deaths at his home. In many cases, the money was returned to Buck or donated to charities after Moore’s death.
Records dating back to 2009 showed Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was one of Buck’s high-profile recipients, receiving $1,400 in 2016. That money was returned about a month after Moore died.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey received $100 from Buck in 2012. Her campaign claims that money was given back in February of 2018.
He gave former California state Senate leader Kevin De Leon $18,700 over several campaigns. A former staffer says most of that money was donated in January of 2018 to a nonprofit that helps domestic violence survivors.
Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu took in $19,400 in state and federal donations from Buck. Lieu’s campaign says after the second death at Buck’s home, they donated the contributions they received to various charities.
Buck gave Adam Schiff, now chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, $2,700 in 2016. The campaign says the money went to the nonprofit Trevor Project.
West Hollywood Mayor John Duran received $12,500 from Buck in various campaigns in 2012 to 2016. Without offering specifics, he said most of the money was spent and some was donated to charity.
“Every candidate and politician sort of has to find their own way,” said California State University Northridge Professor Lawrence Becker.
Becker says it’s up to the candidates whether or not to return the money. Buck has broken no laws and the donations are perfectly legal.
“In a case where it’s a legal donation – and it just kind of looks bad or seems unethical or something – no, there’s no roadmap, but the best roadmap I would say is good judgement. It starts to become a lot more murky the further back in time you go,” he said.
Those donations are just a few of the many thousands of dollars Buck has dolled out over the years."
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