Democratic donor Ed Buck indicted in OD death of second man

Ed Buck, the prominent Democratic donor accused of running a drug den, now faces charges in the second fatal drug overdose at his West Hollywood apartment.

Buck, 65, was indicted Wednesday in the death of Timothy Dean, a 55-year-old man who died from an accidental meth overdose in January.

Dean was found with significant alcohol in his system and flexible plastic devices on his genitalia, according to the coroner’s report, but Buck denied having sex with the man or seeing him take any drugs.

Buck was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on one count of distribution of methamphetamine resulting in Dean’s death, along with three counts of methamphetamine distribution.

“We all are crying, but with joy," Dean’s sister, Joann Campbell, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “A special thank you to Jasmyne and her team. Thank you for fighting for Tim and being our eyes and ears always,”

Prosecutors claim that Buck was “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,” according to the federal indictment.

Buck allegedly solicited men on social media platforms, including a gay dating website, according to the Department of Justice, but also sometimes used a “recruiter” to proposition the men.

At his apartment, he would allegedly prepare the meth-filled syringes, sometimes injecting the men without their consent while they were unconscious, according to the indictment.

The new charges come weeks after he was charged with providing the lethal dose of methamphetamine that resulted in the overdose death of 26-year-old Gemmel Moore on July 27, 2017.

U.S. Attorney Nicola T. Hanna called Buck a “serious threat to public safety” and accused him of “the dangerous exploitation of homeless men and other disadvantaged individuals.”

Buck, 65, was first arrested Tuesday and charged in the separate state case with felony counts of battery causing serious injury, administering methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house.

If convicted in either death, Buck faces a minimum of 20 years in federal prison.