Ed Buck Indicted in Drug Death of Former Gay Performer

Ed Buck, a wealthy Democratic Party fundraiser and donor, was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury, charging him in the death of 55-year-old Timothy Dean, a former performer in gay porn videos as recently as 2016, as AVN.com reported. Dean performed in the videos under the pseudonym “Hole Hunter.” Dean, who was found dead in Buck’s West Hollywood, California, home on January 7, was the second African-American man to die in Buck’s home of a methamphetamine overdose. Escort Gemmel Moore also died in Buck’s home on July 27, 2017. But no action was taken at the time against Buck in relation to either death, leading activists—including Moore’s mother—to charge that the race of the two deceased men and the fact that they were gay, as well as Buck’s political connections, led law enforcement authorities to back off the case—an accusation denied by the Los Angeles County District Attorney on September 17, when Buck was arrested after a third man overdosed in Buck’s home. The third victim survived—but on Wednesday the federal grand jury charged Buck with distributing the drug methamphetamine leading to the deaths of booth Dean and Moore, according to the indictment, which may be read online at this link.  Buck was also indicted for providing the drug to three other men as well. One of those men overdosed on Buck’s methamphetamine twice in one week, but survived and manage to escape from Buck’s home. Another man claimed that Buck threatened him with a motorized saw, according to a report by KTLA TV News in Los Angeles. The indictment charges that Buck pressured the men to allow him to inject them with methamphetamine as part of some sort of bizarre sexual ritual. Buck, 65, has reportedly donated more than $300,000 to Democratic causes, after he retired to West Hollywood at age 37. He has claimed that his wealth stems from a shrewd business deal in which he bought a friend’s company out of bankruptcy and then resold it for a $1 million profit. Photo from Timothy Dean's Facebook page