Ed Buck, a White Democratic donor, was convicted last week by a federal jury of nine felonies, including giving methamphetamine to two men who died at his West Hollywood apartment after being injected with the drug.
According to CNN, Buck was found 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. The trial lasted two weeks and Buck faces a minimum of 20 years in prison.
Gemmel Moore, 26, died of an overdose in July 2017 and Timothy Dean, 55, died in January 2019. A third man suffered an overdose after Buck injected him with methamphetamine on Sept. 11, 2019, at Buck’s residence. The 37-year-old man survived and testified in court.
“It was a tremendous honor to be able to vindicate the rights of the victims in the case,” Assistant US Attorney Chelsea Norell also told CNN.
LaTisha Nixon, the mother of Moore, was happy with the verdict as she talked to the press outside of the courthouse after the verdict.
“My son was more than an ‘escort,’ more than a ‘prostitute,’ as many of you guys said. This is my baby. My son. He was a human being, and he was loved by lots of people,” Nixon expressed.
Jasmyne Cannick, an activist and advocate for the families, also spoke with Los Angeles Times about the verdict and how she believed Buck’s political ties could have possibly allowed him to get away with the crimes.
“It was an uphill battle just because he was a White man who had money. Even if you take the ‘Democratic donor’ part out of it, you have a White man who lives in West Hollywood, and you have these Black victims who are sex workers. The scale is immediately uneven,” she also stated.
2019 court documents claimed that Buck used his power and position to “manipulate his victims into participating in his sexual fetishes. These fetishes include supplying and personally administering dangerously large doses of narcotics to his victims.” Buck’s sentencing date has yet to be announced.
