Man Who Testified Against Rich Political Donor In OD Deaths Found Dead

LOS ANGELES, CA — A man who survived two overdoses from drugs allegedly supplied by now-imprisoned former Democratic donor Ed Buck and whose lawsuit against him was expected to go to trial early next year was found dead on a sidewalk in South Los Angeles last week, an attorney said.

Dane Brown, 43, was found dead last Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, which listed the cause of death as deferred.

Attorney Jasmyne Cannick, a friend of Brown's, posted on X that Brown's body was found on a sidewalk in South Los Angeles.

"Dane's death is part of the unseen, untalked-about consequences of Ed Buck's actions -- consequences that don't end just because Buck is behind bars," Cannick posted. "No one should be found dead on a sidewalk, and Dane didn't deserve that ending."

The 70-year-old Buck was convicted in 2021 in federal court of the overdose deaths of two other Black men -- Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean -- in his West Hollywood apartment. Brown's Los Angeles Superior Court complaint alleging sexual battery, assault, hate violence, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and human trafficking was expected to go to trial in February.

The judge in the civil suit recently granted a motion by Buck's lawyers to compel Brown to sit for a virtual deposition that was scheduled for next week.

Brown and Buck met on the Adam4Adam website in June 2019 and for the next two months Buck often sent a ride-hailing vehicle to a hotel in Skid Row where Brown then lived to bring him to Buck's apartment, the suit states.

After arriving at Buck's apartment for the first visit, the two engaged in sex and Buck provided methamphetamine to Brown to smoke and to use intravenously, the suit states. Buck continued to provide the drug to Brown as he stayed in Buck's apartment from July through September 2019, the suit states.

Buck, who allegedly sought out Brown because he is Black and gay, also forced him to watch pornography, according to the suit.

Buck intravenously injected methamphetamine into Brown on Sept. 4, 2019, and again a week later, causing Brown to overdose both times and have to be hospitalized on each occasion, the suit states.

During the second incident, Buck also gave Brown the "date rape" drug gamma hydroxybutyrate, also known as GHB, the suit alleges. Buck allegedly refused to call an ambulance, so Brown walked across the street to a service station, where an employee and a passerby called 911 on his behalf, according to the suit brought in September 2021.

Brown survived both overdoses and testified against Buck during a trial in U.S. District Court, where in July 2021 a jury found Buck guilty of committing all nine crimes for which he was charged, including two counts of violating distribution of methamphetamine resulting in death. Buck was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison in April 2022.

Cannick wrote on X that "without Dane's bravery, I don't know if Ed Buck would have ever been arrested or prosecuted. Dane's survival and his decision to come forward shone a light on the horrors that had been happening in silence."

Buck once was a candidate for a seat on the West Hollywood City Council. He donated more than $500,000 to political candidates and causes, most of them associated with the Democratic Party.

City News Service