Democratic donor Ed Buck charged in man's overdose at apartment

Democratic activist and donor Ed Buck has been charged in connection with the drug overdose of a 37-year-old man who survived the incident earlier this month, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.

Buck, 65, faces one felony count each of battery causing serious injury, administering methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house, the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

Buck is accused of injecting the man, who has not been publicly identified, with methamphetamine last week at Buck’s West Hollywood apartment.

Prosecutors said in a bail motion that the victim nearly died and that Buck’s “predatory acts and conscious disregard for human life must be stopped.”

A voice message and email left with an attorney who represented Buck earlier this year was not immediately returned Tuesday night. Buck was booked and jailed late Tuesday.

Two men have previously died of methamphetamine overdoses in Buck’s apartment. Through attorney Seymour Amster, Buck has repeatedly denied having any role in the deaths, NBC Los Angeles reported.

Buck has not been criminally charged in either case. The family of one of the two men who died, Gemmel Moore, 26, has accused Buck of wrongful death in a lawsuit.

“We’ll fight the allegations vigorously,” Amster said earlier this year, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Buck is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, and prosecutors will seek bail of $4 million, according to the DA’s office.

If convicted, he faces a possible maximum sentence of five years and eight months in prison.

In court documents related to the Sept. 11 overdose, prosecutors called Buck a “violent, dangerous sexual predator,” who preys on men made vulnerable by addiction and homelessness.

“I remain deeply concerned for the safety of people whose life circumstances may make them more vulnerable to criminal predators,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in Tuesday’s statement.

source: nbcnews.com