Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the state's most powerful Democrats, was charged on Thursday in connection with what federal authorities alleged was a role leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds, reports the AP. An indictment unsealed on Thursday charged Lucas and six other defendants, including several of her relatives, the Department of Justice said. Lucas surrendered, a Justice Department spokesperson said. The charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering, came after the FBI searched Lucas' hometown office and a cannabis shop in which she has a stake in May. At the time of the search, Lucas—a vocal critic of President Trump's administration—characterized it 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," said Brian Woolfolk, chief counsel for the L. Louise Lucas Legal Defense Fund. The brash 82-year-old lawmaker has spent decades ascending the ranks of Virginia politics and has served since 1992 in the state Senate, where she is the president pro tempore. More significantly, she leads the powerful Senate finance committee, through which all legislation with any budget impact must flow. She's used the position to stop and ultimately kill legislation she opposes.
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."
Court records related to the case for months have been sealed, though 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 Lucas had been intercepted as part of a court-approved wiretap that ran for two one-month time spans. At the time of the search, many Democrats spoke up to defend Lucas, expressing skepticism about the basis for the search, given the Department of Justice's efforts to establish criminal conduct by perceived Trump opponents. Lucas has publicly spoken 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.
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