Ed Buck Face Additional Charges Related to Prostitution

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            LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury today returned a superseding indictment charging Edward Buck with four additional felonies, including that he allegedly enticed victims – including a man who died at his West Hollywood apartment after he administered drugs to him – to travel interstate to engage in prostitution.

            Buck, 65, was arrested in September 2019 after being charged in United States District Court with providing methamphetamine to a man who died after receiving the drug intravenously. Since that time, federal authorities have continued to investigate Buck for additional crimes.

            The four additional counts charged today – bringing the total number of charges in this case to nine counts – include one count alleging that Buck knowingly enticed 26-year-old Gemmel Moore to travel to the Los Angeles area to engage in prostitution. Buck allegedly provided methamphetamine to Moore, who overdosed on the drug and died on July 27, 2017.

            Buck also is charged with another count of enticing another man to travel with the intent of engaging in prostitution.

The superseding indictment also charges Buck with one count of knowingly and intentionally distributing methamphetamine, and one count of using his residence for the purpose of distributing narcotics such as methamphetamine, and the sedatives gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and clonazepam.

            Last year, a federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment charging that Buck “engaged in a pattern of soliciting men to consume drugs that Buck provided and perform sexual acts at Buck’s apartment,” which is a practice described as “party and play.” Buck allegedly solicited victims on social media platforms, including a gay dating website, and used a recruiter to scout and proposition men.

Once the men were at his apartment, Buck allegedly prepared syringes containing methamphetamine, sometimes personally injecting the victims with or without their consent, according to the indictment. Buck also allegedly injected victims with more narcotics than they expected and sometimes injected victims while they were unconscious.

Another victim, Timothy Dean also suffered a fatal overdose in Buck’s apartment, on January 7, 2019, the indictment alleges.

Buck is scheduled to go to trial in this matter on January 19, 2021. His arraignment on the first superseding indictment is expected in the coming weeks.

            An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in court.

            Each of the charges alleging the distribution of narcotics resulting in death carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum penalty of life without parole. The four new charges carry a statutory maximum sentence of 60 years in federal prison.

Buck also faces charges, including operating a drug house, that were filed last year by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Buck is currently being held in federal custody without bond, and the federal case is expected to proceed first.

            The federal case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI. The investigation is being conducted with the support of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Chelsea C. Norell and Brittney M. Harris of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section.

            Release No. 20-139


Law firm uses AI to slice months off insurance claims

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Maurice Blackburn Lawyers has rolled out an artificial intelligence-infused solution that cuts the time taken to assess a client’s entitlement to a superannuation disability insurance claim from months down to the span of the client’s initial phone call.

Developed by Microsoft partner, Arinco, the system saves time for the client while also freeing up the lawyers who would otherwise have their time taken up with combing through insurance policy fine print.

Maurice Blackburn’s insurance claim lawyers provide a no win, no fee service to clients and it’s imperative that the initial triage of claims is fast, inexpensive and accurate.

A ground-breaking solution developed using Azure Cognitive Search and Services uses AI to review life insurance policies to assess rapidly whether a claim has merit and should be pursued.

General Manager Digital & Technology, Greg Emsley

Maurice Blackburn’s General Manager Digital & Technology, Greg Emsley says it’s a very significant breakthrough for the law firm’s Superannuation and Insurance practice.

“The solution allows us to triage new claims, assess them for eligibility and then make that insight available directly to our insurance law claims team in a matter of seconds,” Mr Emsley says.

“The use of artificial intelligence allows us to extract only those aspects of the policy documents pertinent to the claims process, and then correlate that to a client’s specific event to quickly and confidently identify the cover in place for them at the time.

We are in the early stages of adoption, but the signs are that this will be very effective in reducing the time needed to serve our clients from months to minutes, and significantly improve the client experience in what can often be a traumatic period in their life. – Maurice Blackburn’s General Manager Digital & Technology, Greg Emsley

Maurice Blackburn’s National Manager of Operations for the Superannuation and Insurance team, Jason Brown agrees it will vastly improve the clients’ experience.

“Knowing what you’re entitled to is the first step in getting access to justice so by couplingAI with trained staffwe can provide clients with greater certainty more quickly.

“For many,  finding out whether you have a claim can now be as simple as a call to our office and we can start work on a claim virtually immediately and move it along quickly,” Mr Brown says

“Automating the process also means we can free up our team to spend more time with clients and make quicker decisions about how to proceed with claims”.

Arinco used Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services to develop the AI-infused solution which in turn uses Azure Forms Recogniser to  accelerate business processes through automating information extraction.

Principal Consultant at Arinco, Chris Padgett says Azure was an ideal tool to deal with complex and lengthy policy information.

Principal Consultant at Arinco, Chris Padgett 

“These policy documents can be dozens, if not hundreds of pages long and dense with legal jargon.

“Using Forms Recogniser, we recognise content within these document files, extracting the key phrases from them as well as tabulated data, and then surface that to a business application used by the lawyer,” Mr Padgett says.

“Maurice Blackburn’s claims triage team don’t have to navigate their way through hundreds of pages of documentation to find these key sections and instead are presented with a  very readable, easy to navigate way to help them expedite a claim.”

While Arinco has structured this solution specifically to support insurance claims triage, the underlying framework, machine learning and AI could be applied across multiple industry sectors with tailored solutions spun up rapidly to meet specific requirements.

Microsoft Australia’s Chief Technology Officer, Lee Hickin says it’s rewarding to see the Azure suite employed creatively to improve business services.

“Cloud, data and AI are the trinity that deliver immense value to businesses in every sector.

“The array of Azure Cognitive Services means that these sorts of applications can be developed and deployed rapidly, supporting employees with tasks that would otherwise be time consuming, laborious and quite costly,” Mr Hickin says.

“The methodology that Arinco uses and its deep skills across the Microsoft Azure ecosystem can be brought to bear rapidly, driving real impact and measurable value for clients in multiple sectors.”

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