Official: Political donor faces US charge in overdose death

FILE - In this Sept. 22, 2010 file photo Ed Buck makes a campaign appearance for Meg Whitman, not shown, then a Republican candidate for governor of California, in Los Angeles. The prominent California Democratic donor, Buck, has been charged Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2019, with running a drug house where two men died of overdoses. Prosecutors allege Buck provided the meth that killed two men who were found in his apartment in 2017 and this January. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

LOS ANGELES — A law enforcement official says political activist Ed Buck will face a federal charge in a drug death at his Los Angeles-area home.

The official with knowledge of the investigation said Thursday that Buck will be charged with distributing meth resulting in the death of Gemmel Moore.

The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and insisted on anonymity.

Moore died at the 65-year-old gay activist’s West Hollywood home in 2017. Another man died of an overdose there last year.

State prosecutors charged the wealthy and influential Democratic donor this week with causing the overdose of another man who escaped from his home this month.

State prosecutors say Buck is a violent sexual predator and are seeking $4 million bail.

An email seeking comment from Buck’s lawyer was not immediately returned.

Brian Melley, The Associated Press