Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, DOJ says

Federal prosecutors have charged Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas with drug trafficking and money laundering, accusing the veteran Democrat of leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds. An indictment unsealed Thursday charged Lucas and six other defendants, including several of her relatives, the Department of Justice said in a statement ahead of a news conference scheduled for 10 a.m. A Justice Department spokesperson said Lucas self surrendered. The charges came after the FBI searched Lucas' hometown office and a cannabis shop in which she has a stake in May.FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that the charges allege “Lucas and a close-knit group of family members and associates orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their own criminal marijuana enterprise, ‘the Lucas Enterprise’ — using Lucas’ position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves.”“No one is above the law," the statement said, "and this FBI will continue to follow the facts with our Justice Department and ensure those responsible for criminal conduct are held accountable.”The FBI alleges a ‘criminal marijuana enterprise’Lucas, who has been a vocal critic of Republican President Donald Trump's administration, characterized the search in May as an attempt to intimidate her. Court records in the case had been sealed for months.Earlier this year, the Department of Justice sent at least two rounds of letters notifying journalists, politicians and others in Lucas' orbit that their communications with her had been intercepted as part of a court-approved wiretap that ran for two one-month time spans.Former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder embraces Sen. Louise Lucas (D-VA) on March 2, 2026 in Richmond, Virginia (Getty Images)Many Democrats spoke up to defend Lucas when the search happened, expressing skepticism about the basis for it, given the Department of Justice's efforts to establish criminal conduct by perceived Trump opponents.Lucas, 82, has spent decades ascending the ranks of Virginia politics and has served in the state Senate since 1992. She is the chamber's president pro tempore, overseeing it in the lieutenant governor's absence.More significantly, she leads the powerful Senate finance committee, through which all legislation with any budget impact must flow. She has used the position to stop and ultimately kill legislation she opposes.Lucas represents a state Senate district that includes her hometown of coastal Portsmouth. She operates with a sometimes-profane, unapologetic style that has drawn comparisons with Trump.She has amassed a six-figure following on X and national attention, using the social media platform to advocate forcefully for her priorities and to bash her critics, including former GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Lucas has also occasionally blasted members of her own party, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger, with whom she has had disagreements.A forceful advocate of legalizing marijuana, Lucas partnered in opening the shop, The Cannabis Outlet, in 2021, selling hemp and CBD products. Marijuana is legal to possess in Virginia, but recreational retail sales of the drug are not yet underway, though shops across the state do sell other cannabis-derived products.Lucas has spoken publicly about her ownership stake in the cannabis shop as recently as June, though her most recent financial disclosure forms do not list the business by name. She also runs a network of companies that provide residential, transportation and other services to adults with intellectual disabilities.Lucas was a leading voice in Democrats' ultimately failed attempt to redistrict the state's congressional map this year, a bid to hedge against Republican efforts in other states to redraw maps for their advantage in midterm elections.Lucas has been in politics for decadesEarlier this year, she helped lead Democrats' ultimately unsuccessful plan to gerrymander the blue-leaning state's congressional districts into a map intended to elect 10 Democrats and only one Republican. Along the way, she posted quips about four GOP members the intended map sought to oust, joking that they soon would be working at McDonald's.She and other Democrats defended the maps as a reasonable response to Trump-backed efforts to boost the GOP's midterm advantage 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, a physically demanding job that involves working on metal assemblies for vessels. She launched her political career in 1984, when, the biography said, she became the first Black woman elected to the Portsmouth city council.