Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas charged with drug trafficking and money laundering: DOJ

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the state’s most influential Democrats, was charged Thursday in connection with an alleged role leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds, according to federal authorities.

What we know:

An indictment unsealed Thursday charged Lucas and six co-defendants, including several of her relatives, the Department of Justice said in a statement. A Justice Department spokesperson said Lucas self-surrendered on Thursday.

The charges, which include drug trafficking and money laundering, follow a May search by the FBI of Lucas’ hometown office and a cannabis shop in which she holds an ownership stake. At the time of the search, Lucas, a critic of Republican President Donald Trump’s administration, characterized the operation as an attempt to intimidate her.

“This is the circus we always expected it to be, and we will wait for further details to have a more specific response,” Brian Woolfolk, chief counsel for the L. Louise Lucas Legal Defense Fund, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

A statement posted to Lucas’ social media account did not directly address the substance of the charges, but said Thursday’s actions amounted to the federal government wielding its “full weight” against a great-grandmother.

“I will not be intimidated. I will not be bullied. And I will not back down,” Lucas said in the statement.

RELATED: Virginia lawmaker Louise Lucas’ office raided in FBI probe

The backstory:

The brazen 82-year-old lawmaker has spent decades climbing the ranks of Virginia politics and has served since 1992 in the state Senate, where she is president pro tempore, overseeing the chamber in the lieutenant governor’s absence. 

She also leads the powerful Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, through which all legislation with a budget impact must pass, using the position to halt and ultimately kill legislation she opposes.

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that the charges allege Lucas and a tight-knit group of family members and associates orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enhance their own criminal marijuana enterprise, designated “the Lucas Enterprise.” 

Patel said Lucas used her position as finance chair to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and to influence legislation for personal financial benefit.

“No one is above the law,” Patel said in the statement, adding that the FBI will continue to follow the facts with the Justice Department to ensure those responsible for criminal conduct are held accountable.

The charges come as Lucas has been a leading voice in Democrats’ ultimately failed attempt to redistrict the state’s congressional map this year, a bid intended to hedge against Republican map-drawing efforts in other states ahead of midterm elections.

An advocate for marijuana legalization, Lucas partnered to open the shop, The Cannabis Outlet, in 2021 to sell hemp and CBD products. While marijuana is legal to possess in Virginia, recreational retail sales of the drug are not yet underway, though retail shops across the state sell other cannabis-derived products.

Lucas also operates a network of companies providing residential, transportation, and other services to adults with intellectual disabilities.

Timeline:

Court records related to the case had been sealed for months. Earlier this year, however, the Department of Justice sent multiple rounds of notification letters to journalists, politicians, and others in Lucas’ orbit informing them that their communications with the senator had been intercepted as part of a court-approved wiretap that ran for two one-month periods.

At the time of the May search, many Democrats defended Lucas, expressing skepticism about the basis for the raid given Department of Justice efforts to establish criminal conduct by perceived Trump opponents. A person familiar with the matter told the AP at the time that the probe was originally opened during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.

Lucas has publicly spoken about her ownership stake in the cannabis shop, though her most recent financial disclosure forms do not list the business by name.

Representing a state Senate district that includes her hometown of coastal Portsmouth, Lucas operates with an unapologetic, sometimes-profane style that has drawn comparisons to Trump.

She amasses a six-figure following on X, using the platform to advocate forcefully for her priorities and bash critics, including former GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin. She has also occasionally clashed with members of her own party, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

Earlier this year, Lucas helped lead Democrats’ plan to redraw the blue-leaning state’s congressional districts into a map intended to elect 10 Democrats and one Republican. 

Along the way, she posted quips about four GOP members the map sought to oust, joking that they would soon be working at McDonald’s. She and other Democrats defended the proposal as a reasonable response to Trump-backed redistricting efforts in other states.

Lucas has notched several historic firsts in her career. According to a biography from the state library, she became the Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s first female shipfitter in 1971, working on metal assemblies for vessels.

She launched her political career in 1984, becoming the first Black woman elected to the Portsmouth City Council, according to the biography.

In her decades in the state Senate, Lucas has been a loyal advocate for abortion rights and increased public school funding, as well as a leading voice on racial justice and civil rights.

After Democrats flipped control of the chamber in 2019, her peers elected her to serve as president pro tempore. 

In 2024, she was tapped to lead the budget committee, gaining broad influence over legislation tied to state spending and playing a leading role in killing Youngkin’s proposal to bring Washington’s NBA and NHL teams to a proposed $2 billion development in Virginia.

READ THE INDICTMENT: The 45-page indictment charges Lucas with Racketeering Conspiracy (Count 1), Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana (Count 2), Conspiracy to Launder Money (Count 3), Conspiracy to Commit Honest Services Fraud (Count 4), and Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premises (Count 5). 

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