Ed Buck, Prominent Democratic Donor, Heads To Prison For 30 Years For Fetish Play Gone Wrong

Ed Buck, a once prominent donor to the Democratic Party, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday after murdering two men in fetish play gone tragically wrong.

Buck, once a well-connected supporter of left-leaning causes, was convicted Thursday of the murders of two Black gay men in separate incidents in 2017 and 2019. Prosecutors say he lured the men to his West Hollywood apartment for “party and play” sessions that involved Buck plying men with drugs and then performing sex acts on them.

In July 2017, Buck injected Gemmel Moore, 26, with a fatal overdose. Two years later, the same thing happened to a second man, Timothy Dean, 55, who died under similar circumstances. It was not until a third man overdosed for a second time in Buck’s apartment that he was arrested and charged.

Appearing in federal court after being convicted of the murders a day earlier, Buck and his attorneys pleaded for mercy. One of his defense lawyers, Mark Werksman, denounced the prosecutors' depiction of his client as a "sociopathic syringe-wielding sexual predator and sexual deviant" and countered by pointing to another side of Buck that was "redeemable."

Buck himself also took up his own defense at his sentencing, claiming that his past work and the "good" he may "still do" if shown mercy should be enough to debunk the prosecutors' portrayal of him as a monster.

“Look at the good I have done and the good I may still do and not the horrible caricature that the government painted me as a meth-fueled ax killer,” Buck said. “That’s not who I am.”

Buck was once known as a prominent supporter of the Democratic Party, using his wealth to advance LGBTQ and animal rights causes across the U.S. Since 2000, he has donated $500,000 to politicians like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as California politicians that include Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif.

Judge Christina Snyder did not appear particularly moved by this plea. She called Buck’s case one of her most difficult to date, but described his actions as “horrific crimes” that were not accidents.

Prosecutors fumed about the 30-year sentence for Buck, hoping instead to hand down a life sentence to the well-connected Democratic donor. One assistant U.S. attorney on the case said the conviction was the equivalent of “getting one kill and another 50% off.”