What is Ed Buck’s net worth? Donor accused of preying on gay Black men has given $500K to Dems
A wealthy Democratic donor is currently on trial after being charged for giving fatal doses to two men, running a drug house, and convincing others to travel for sex play to satisfy a fetish. Ed Buck is accused of preying on gay Black men in sexual games and giving them injections of methamphetamine and ‘date rape drug’.
According to reports, the 66-year-old, who was once connected to Democrats like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Gavin Newsom, could receive life imprisonment if found guilty of nine felonies he is currently facing. The trial started on Tuesday, July 13, where the opening statement recounted the times when 26-year-old Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, 55, died after a number of people were injured at Buck's home after being provided with methamphetamine. Moore died on his floor in 2017 while Dean died 18 months later. Buck was arrested in September 2019. While through his lawyers Buck insisted that all the activities at his home were consensual, the US Attorney’s Office is expected to present witnesses to retell their horrifying stories.
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Prosecutors have said that Buck mostly targeted Black vulnerable gay men as he used to pay them to come to his place and encouraged them to use drugs and participate themselves in sex play. Carlos Sinclair was one of his alleged victims, who was taken out from a homeless encampment three years ago and moved to Buck’s West Hollywood apartment to participate in sexual fetish drug games, testimony stated.
Journalist Jasmyne Cannick told the Washington Examiner, Sinclair was forced to take GHB, the “date rape drug,” and meth. At one point, he fell unconscious after smoking the drugs and later found Buck over him. Buck was injecting him with crystal meth. Cannick recounted Sinclair’s testimony: “'When I woke up, Ed Buck was sitting on me and facing me, injecting me with crystal meth. ‘Don’t move because there is a needle in your arm.’' Carlos said he felt violated.” Besides, once when Sinclair was high on GHB and was about to drink a potent alcoholic beverage, he was stopped by Buck, who also allegedly told him, “I don’t need another dead (N-word) on my couch.”
Buck has also been accused of physical violence as he once repeatedly slapped Sinclair in the face. He also allegedly put Sinclair’s genitals on fire after paying him $500, as per the testimony. Another alleged victim of Buck is Dane Brown, who used to live in a hotel on Skid Row when he met Buck on Adam4Adam, an online gay dating site. Court documents stated that during the summer of 2019, he reportedly shifted to Buck’s house, where he was allegedly injected with meth almost every day for five weeks. He is expected to give testimony in the coming days of the trial.
Attorney Hussain Turk told the Washington Examiner, “In general, Ed Buck gets off on causing and observing the physical pain and suffering of young vulnerable Black men. He proceeds to give them too much [drugs] and watches them lay on the ground before him, suffering and clinging to life. In some cases, he watches them die.”
“For whatever reason, he developed this perverse dangerous fetish. Because of who he is, he was able to get away with it for many many, years and now is time for him to be held accountable for the harm he has inflicted upon so many people,” Turk added, whose legal team spoke to a number of witnesses before filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Buck.
According to reports, two drug counts and a charge of battery have been filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. But no death charge was filed. It has been said that the case will be heard in court on September 23.
What is Ed Buck’s net worth?
Buck is a businessman as well as a political activist. The Ohio native reportedly made a lot of fortune by running and selling the data service company Gopher Courier. It has been said that since 2000, he has given more than $500,000 to Democratic causes and candidates.
According to reports, Buck is best known for his 1986 campaign, “Mecham Watchdog Committee”. The exact information about his net worth is not known, but some reports have estimated it to be around $15 million while some stated it to be between $1 million to $5 million.