Democratic Party donor Ed Buck charged with running drug den: officials

[September 18, 2019]  By Rich McKay

(Reuters) - A prominent California Democratic Party donor, Edward Buck, was arrested on Tuesday night and charged with operating a drug den after a man overdosed in his West Hollywood home, officials said.

Buck, 65, who has donated to former President Barack Obama and former Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, is a well-known activist in California politics.

He is accused of injecting methamphetamine into a 37-year-old man identified as Joe Doe, on Sept. 11, who overdosed but lived, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.

Buck's attorney, Seymour Amster, told Fox News that he would not comment on the arrest.

He was charged on Tuesday with one felony count each of battery causing serious injury, administreing methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house, the DA's office said.

"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 a statement.

"With this new evidence, I authorized the filing of criminal charges against Ed Buck."

Neither a representative with the DA's office nor the Los Angeles police were available early Wednesday for further comment.

Buck was in custody overnight with a court arraignment set for Wednesday, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors are recommending bail be set at $4 million. If convicted as charged, Buck faces a possible maximum sentence of five years and eight months in state prison.

The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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