Dem Donor Indicted in 2nd Death at LA Home

Ed Buck faces 5 federal charges in all
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 3, 2019 9:40 AM CDT
Dem Donor Indicted in 2nd Overdose Death
LaTisha Nixon, second from right, talks about her son Gemmel Moore at a news conference in West Hollywood, Calif., on Sept. 25, 2019.   (AP Photo/Brian Melley)

Ed Buck, the Democratic donor accused of luring gay black men to his West Hollywood home and injecting them with meth, has been charged in connection with a second overdose death. Held without bond, Buck was previously charged in federal court in connection with the July 2017 death of homeless escort Gemmel Moore, 26, who was reportedly offered drugs in exchange for money and sex acts. But Buck allegedly had many more victims. An indictment unsealed Wednesday adds an additional count of distributing narcotics that contributed to the death a man, this one 55-year-old Timothy Dean, a fashion consultant who overdosed at Buck's home in January, per BuzzFeed.

Per the indictment, Buck is also charged with three counts of distributing meth to other men, named only using their initials, over the last two years, reports NBC News. That makes for five federal charges, each with a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years. Prosecutors accuse him of "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." They note he used a recruiter to scout men for him, but also met victims on the gay dating website Adam4Adam. Following news of the indictment, Dean's sister thanked detectives and activist Jasmyne Cannick, who has long sought justice for the victims' families. "We all are crying, but with joy," Joann Campbell said, per the Los Angeles Times. (More Ed Buck stories.)

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