Statement On Court Decision to Uphold Jury’s Verdict Against California Dem Doner Ed Buck

The following statement is from Jasmyne Cannick, founder of Justice for Gemmel and All of Ed Buck’s victims on the court’s decision to uphold the jury’s verdict against California Democratic donor Ed Buck.  

“Where former Los Angeles district attorney Jackie Lacey didn’t even see a case worth prosecuting, federal prosecutors presented an excellent case with the help of the LA County Sheriff’s Department. The evidence and the first-person accounts of #EdBuck’s surviving victims were powerful.  The jury saw Buck’s victims and heard their pain and convicted Ed Buck on ALL nine counts.  I am happy the court upheld the jury’s verdict.  It was the right thing to do.

“Today I am elated – we as a group are elated – to know that we’re moving onto the sentencing phase for Buck. Sentencing him to prison to the maximum term allowed will send that message to the people who need to hear it and feel it the most – the community he preyed on and took advantage of, and the other Ed Buck’s still operating under the radar watching this case to see what the outcome is going to be.

“Ed Buck needs to be held accountable.  We want to see him sentenced to the maximum time he is eligible for under federal law.

“The lives of Black homeless men matter.  The lives of Black queer people matter. The lives of people addicted to drugs matter. The lives of survival sex workers matter. They matter.”

On July 27, 2021, Ed Buck was found guilty in federal court of two counts of distributing methamphetamine that resulted in the deaths of Gemmel Moore in 2017 and Timothy Dean in 2019, four counts of distributing methamphetamine, one count of maintaining a drug premises, and two counts of enticement to travel for purposes of prostitution. 

Jasmyne Cannick is an award-winning freelance journalist and political strategist. She spent four years investigating Ed Buck and humanizing his victims and her reporting became linked with the progression of the case.  Beyond her journalism, she founded Justice for Gemmel and All of Ed Buck’s victims to help the families of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean and Buck’s surviving victims advocate for his arrest and conviction.