A wealthy Democratic donor was convicted of trading drugs for sex in nine felony counts Tuesday, according to The Associated Press (AP).
A federal jury found Ed Buck, 66, guilty of injecting men with methamphetamine in exchange for sexual acts. The injections lead to multiple overdoses and two deaths, AP reported.
Buck pleaded not guilty. His defense lawyers claimed that many of the victims were addicts and the overdose deaths were not caused by the drugs he provided, AP reported.
Homicide detectives found about 2,400 videos on Buck’s computers and phones, including about 1,500 documenting his party-and-play sessions, Sgt. Paul Cardella of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department testified.https://t.co/QY8geAfatd
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 22, 2021
Buck could be facing a life sentence, according to AP.
After a two-week trial, the jury took over four hours to make its decision. The verdict was announced exactly four years after a man was found dead from an overdose in Buck’s apartment, AP reported.
Activists rallied outside of Buck’s apartment after Gemmel Moore, 26, died on his floor in 2017. Timothy Dean, 55, died 18 months later and another victim nearly died of an overdose before Buck was finally arrested in 2019. (RELATED: Elizabeth Warren Touts List of Endorsements Which Includes Accused Sex Predator Ed Buck)
Moore and Dean’s family and friends cheered and applauded when the judge pronounced him “guilty,” while others sobbed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Norell fell to her knees and cried in the courthouse, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Buck has donated over $500,000 to mostly Democratic politicians and efforts since 2000.