Norfolk, Virginia — L. Louise Lucas, a powerful Virginia state senator and vocal Trump critic who played a central role in the state’s redistricting effort last year, was taken into federal custody Thursday and charged in connection with an alleged bribery and racketeering scheme, the Justice Department said.
According to a 45-page indictment filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, Lucas and six other co-defendants are charged with conspiring to distribute and possess marijuana, conspiring to launder money, laundering money and committing bribery by distributing large quantities of illegal marijuana under the auspices of her legal medical cannabis business.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment last week. Lucas, 82, surrendered to law enforcement on Thursday morning. She faces five of the eight charges included in the indictment and is set to make her initial appearance before a federal magistrate judge Thursday afternoon.
Lucas vowed to fight the charges in a statement on X.
“Today, the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the full weight of the federal government have been wielded against an 82-year-old great-grandmother,” she said. “I grew up under Jim Crow. I’ve seen what happens when people in power try to silence those who stand up to them. I spent my life fighting back, and I’m not stopping now.”
At a press conference to discuss the charges in Norfolk, Virginia, Attorney General Todd Blanche dismissed concerns about bringing the charges so close to the midterm elections, noting that Lucas is not on the ballot. He said there was “nothing improper” about the timing of the indictment.
The case comes nearly six months after federal law enforcement searched Lucas’ office and a shop called The Cannabis Outlet that she co-owns in Portsmouth, Virginia. One source familiar with the investigation told CBS News at the time of the search that the investigation started during the Biden administration.
The charges
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Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia alleged that since at least 2019, Lucas has been the leader of the scheme and used her political influence in Virginia to enact legislation and regulations to financially benefit herself and co-defendants, as well as insulate the alleged criminal enterprise she was running from state law enforcement.
Lucas allegedly directed the enterprise to buy and sell over 100 kilograms of illegal marijuana. She was indicted alongside her daughters, Lisa Lucas-Burke and Theresa Lucas-Lamb, and grandson, Ryan Eichelberger, in addition to other co-defendants.
Blanche said that Lucas and her co-defendants allegedly engaged in a “large-scale RICO drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy.”
Prosecutors will prove that Lucas “violated the trust of the people of Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Virginia, and of her state Senate colleagues,” Blanche said.
“Through her elected office, Sen. Lucas has been a public servant of the people of Virginia. Her first duty should have been looking out for her constituents before herself,” the attorney general said. “But the charges listed in the indictment reflect the alleged behavior of a public servant who put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, an elected official or an everyday citizen, nobody is above the law.”
Blanche said the investigation that led to the charges began “many years ago” and was not started by the Trump administration.
FBI Director Kash Patel also spoke at the press conference and said Lucas “has many things to answer for.” He characterized her actions as “truly the epitome of hypocrisy for a public official.”
As a result of the alleged scheme, Lucas accumulated nearly $5 million in “ill-gotten gains,” according to the FBI director.
Medical marijuana can be sold by licensed dispensaries in Virginia and people can possess a certain amount for personal use. The state is set to launch regulated retail marijuana sales next year after the Virginia legislature legalized the sale of recreational cannabis in July.
Lucas sponsored a legalization bill in the state Senate in 2021 and has supported other measures decriminalizing marijuana, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Prosecutors claimed that in 2023 and 2024, Lucas was issued violation notices from the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services related to The Cannabis Outlet for selling cannabis products that did not comply with state law.
According to the indictment, Lucas allegedly told an unindicted co-conspirator that she wanted a recreational license in the state to create “generational wealth” for her and her family, adding “this is my last chance.”
In a phone call with a Virginia state lawmaker in March, Lucas allegedly said she needed the recreational industry to get off the ground, because “when I did it, it was obviously illegal.” The indictment also alleges that Lucas was warned by a senior law enforcement official in multiple meetings that selling marijuana was illegal.
Prosecutors unveiled the indictment just weeks before the November elections. Lucas is not up for reelection, but her daughter, Lucas-Burke, is running for the Portsmouth City Council. As a general practice, the Justice Department has historically avoided overt law enforcement or prosecutorial activities involving political figures within 60 days of an election.
Blanche said the unwritten so-called “60-day rule” is not part of the Justice Manual, which lays out internal department policies and procedures. He defended the decision to charge Lucas and her daughter.
“We don’t do political paybacks,” he said.
Lucas was a key figure in pushing for a new congressional map through Virginia’s Legislature that had added four Democratic-leaning seats. The map was approved in a ballot referendum in April but in May the Virginia Supreme Court tossed out the new map, dealing a blow to state Democrats. The U.S. Supreme Court then rejected an effort by Virginia Democrats to revive the new House lines.
Lucas was first elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 1991 and is currently the Senate president pro tempore. As she helped lead the Democratic redistricting plan earlier this year, Lucas used social media to taunt Republicans, President Trump and even the Democratic U.S. senators from her state. She was reelected in 2023 to a four-year term and is not up for reelection until 2027.
“You all started it and we f***ing finished it,” she posted on social media after the measure passed, referring to Mr. Trump’s push to redraw Texas’ congressional map that kicked off the redistricting battle between the two parties.
