The family of a man who was found dead in the apartment of disgraced Democratic donor Ed Buck has filed a wrongful death suit against Buck, who has been accused of facilitating drug use in exchange for sexual encounters.
Buck pleaded not guilty in October to federal charges that he distributed methamphetamine that led to two men's overdoses at his apartment in West Hollywood, California. He also faces state charges of battery causing serious injury, administering methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house. Buck is in federal custody.
Timothy Dean, 55, was found dead of an accidental overdose of crystal methamphetamine in Buck's apartment more than a year after Gemmel Moore died of an overdose there in July 2017. Dean's sisters sued Buck in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, claiming that he "forcibly and repeatedly injected Mr. Dean with crystal methamphetamine" without his consent.
The women allege that Buck has "a history of hosting sexual encounters at the property during which he facilitated the distribution, manufacturing or furnishing of illegal controlled substances to his guests, into whom Mr. Buck forcibly injected crystal methamphetamine," according to the lawsuit.
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Civil suits against Buck have sought to remedy the injustices never addressed by the government, Hussain Turk, an attorney for the sisters, said in a statement Thursday.
"The civil lawsuits are important because they seek to hold Ed Buck specifically accountable for engaging in racially- and sexually-motivated hate violence against Black gay men," Turk said.
Moore's family also sued Buck last year, alleging that he had gotten Moore hooked on crystal meth by injecting him with the dangerous drug.
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Seymour Amster, Buck's former attorney, has previously denied all allegations of wrongdoing against Buck, who has since hired Christopher Darden, the famed former Los Angeles County prosecutor.
Darden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.