State Sen. L. Louise Lucas and six other people were charged Thursday with federal crimes involving an alleged conspiracy to sell marijuana and launder the resulting profits. Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana, and conspiracy to launder money.
She has surrendered to federal authorities yet remains defiant.
“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.”
The charges come less than two weeks before the midterm congressional elections.
Others say the charges are serious and not so easy to dismiss.
“These are incredibly serious charges laid out in the indictment. Regardless of political party, public corruption, racketeering, and self-dealing undermine the very foundation of our government and erode the public’s trust,” U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam said in a statement to the Daily Signal. “Sen. Lucas is entitled to a presumption of innocence, but anyone found guilty of abusing their position must be held fully accountable under the law.”
Earlier this year, his office told the Daily Signal that the FBI had monitored phone conversations Subramanyam had with Lucas between March 6 and April 5 and again between April 14 and May 14. The contents of those conversations were sealed by court order.
The charges against Lucas follow a yearslong investigation that began during the Biden administration. “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,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said as the charges were unveiled. “Her first duty should have been looking out for her constituents before herself.”
While he took a wait-and-see attitude in his statement, Subramanyam added that “the timing of these charges, days before a major election, raises even more questions about the weaponization of these agencies against political opponents of the president.”
“Sen. Lucas is one of the highest-ranking Democrats and was a leading proponent of Virginia’s redistricting efforts, so it’s hard not to conclude there are politics involved here,” he said. “Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to rubber stamp and pardon fraud and corruption for themselves and their political allies.”
Subramanyam, a Democrat, is expected to be reelected easily in Virginia’s 10th District.
The indictment accuses the senator of having “used her political position to insulate the Lucas Enterprise from criminal scrutiny and to influence legislation benefiting the enterprise.”
Lucas enjoys a uniquely powerful position in state politics. Governors in Virginia have less influence than in other states because they may not run for reelection immediately after serving a four-year term. The best they can do is sit out an election cycle and attempt to run again, as former Gov. Terry McAuliffe attempted to do in 2021. He was defeated by Glenn Youngkin, who is now out of office and stumping for Republicans across the state.
State senators, however, do not face the specter of term limits, and so Lucas has been able to amass vast power during her 34 years in office. She has made it clear to governors in both parties that she enjoys unique influence.
For example, after a poll this spring showed Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s approval rating at 47%, Lucas openly mocked her fellow Democrat. “[M]y numbers are doing just fine,” she wrote on X. “The problem she has to correct is her policies don’t match her rhetoric from the campaign trail. Her issue is credibility.”
Lucas has also used her position to thwart Republican governors. When Youngkin thought he had an agreement in 2024 to bring the NBA’s Wizards and the NHL’s Capitals to Alexandria, Lucas blocked the $2 billion Potomac Yard arena proposal by refusing to include it in the state budget.
“Anything having to do with enriching billionaires, they need to pay for themselves,” she told ALXnow at that time. “They can build the arena and make a profit. They could complete the roads and also provide the perennial upkeep.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Thursday that Lucas’ alleged five-year scheme was worth an estimated $4.5 million. The case against Lucas will be prosecuted in the Eastern District of Virginia.
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[ H/T The Daily Signal ]
