Feds indict top Virginia Democrat on cannabis enterprise conspiracy

The Justice Department accuses Virginia state Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas of using her political clout to conceal an enterprise of illegal cannabis sales.NORFOLK, Va. (CN) —The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Thursday that Virginia state Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas surrendered herself to custody on racketeering and drug charges.​"The Department of Justice intends to prove that Senator Lucas violated the trust of the people of Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Virginia, and of her state Senate colleagues," U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference. “Through her elected office, Senator Lucas has been a public servant of the people of Virginia; her first duty should have been looking out for her constituents before herself.”​Lucas, a Democrat who has held office representing Portsmouth, Virginia, since 1992, is accused of participating in a criminal enterprise that engaged in illegal cannabis distribution, maintaining drug-involved locations, money laundering, fraud and bribery. FBI Director Kash Patel said at the press conference the scheme involved nearly $5 million.​"Her and her six co-conspirators, instead of serving the public as was her job, manufactured and created a criminal enterprise to illicitly enrich themselves by procuring sales and stores and divisions through the marijuana and CBD enterprise," Patel said. “Miss Lucas has many things to answer for on the allegation.”​The grand jury also indicted Lucas’s daughters, Lisa Lucas Burke and Theresa Lucas-Lamb, along with grandson Ryan Eichelberger, businessmen Prince Albert William Hudson III and Carlton Upton Jr., and Tameka Johnson. Some of Lucas’s co-defendants also face charges of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and wire fraud.​The Justice Department says Lucas, who serves in the powerful role of chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, used her political influence to help facilitate cannabis licenses to certain entities for financial gain and for enacting legislation that benefited her and the enterprise financially.​"During her time as Virginia state senator, instead of enforcing the law, she was actually breaking the law," Patel said. “Truly, the epitome of hypocrisy for a public official.”​Lucas, whom the Justice Department described as the leader of the enterprise, is an owner of the Cannabis Outlet in Portsmouth, which purportedly sells legal hemp and CBD products. Virginia will not have a legal adult recreational market until 2027, although limited possession is allowed.​The Justice Department says Lucas and her co-defendants laundered money from the illegal sale of cannabis through other businesses they owned.​The Justice Department claims Hudson owns several businesses that sell hemp and CBD-based products and provided Lucas with large quantities of cannabis. Upton has been Lucas’s business partner since 2019 in Virginia Freedom Life, which oversees the Cannabis Outlet and the CBD Shoppe. Lucas is accused of using her political position to facilitate a recreational cannabis license for Upton. The Justice Department dates the criminal activity to at least 2019.​Lucas denies the charges and said she is not intimidated.​"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," Lucas said in a statement. “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.”​Blanche and Patel said the investigation predates President Donald Trump’s second term.​"This is a long-running case, as alleged in the indictment," Blanche said. “People can criticize all they want, but it was time to bring the charges.”​Evidence of the enterprise includes communications and transactions between Lucas and other conspirators for the purchase of large quantities of cannabis and photos of the co-defendants carrying duffle bags into the Cannabis Outlet, according to federal prosecutors. They also say undercover law enforcement carried out multiple controlled purchases at the Cannabis Outlet, and that the 82-year-old used her legislative offices in Portsmouth and Richmond to discuss the illegal enterprise.Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the Cannabis Outlet and the CBD Shoppe in May, where they found cannabis.​The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services issued violation notices to the Cannabis Outlet in 2023 and 2024 for selling products that contained illegal amounts of THC. Virginia decriminalized adult cannabis possession for quantities up to one ounce in 2020. Virginia is now on track to begin recreational sales in 2027 after Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger signed the legislation over the summer.​Lucas is expected to appear at the Eastern District Court of Virginia in Norfolk later today.​"Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, an elected official or an everyday citizen, nobody is above the law," Blanche said.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads