Democratic donor convicted of offering drugs for sex; 2 died [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By STEFANIE DAZIO

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a wealthy California political donor on charges he injected gay men with methamphetamine in exchange for sex, leading to two deaths and other overdoses.

Ed Buck was found guilty of all nine felony counts in federal court, which could lead to a life sentence. The verdict came exactly four years after one of the victims was found dead of an overdose in Buck’s West Hollywood apartment.

The jury deliberated for more than four hours after a two-week trial. Buck’s defense attorneys — one of whom was a prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson case — did not immediately return a request for comment.

Prosecutors said Buck paid men and provided drugs in return for sex acts. The 66-year-old had pleaded not guilty. His defense lawyers said neither fatal overdose victim died from meth and that many of the alleged victims were drug addicts.



FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2019, file photo, Ed Buck appears in Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles. A federal jury has convicted the wealthy donor to Democrats on charges he injected gay men with methamphetamine in drugs-for-sex fetish that led to two deaths and other overdoses. Buck was found guilty of all nine felony counts in federal court that could lead to a life sentence. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)


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