Justice Department officials claim to know of at least two unnamed state legislators who were present in discussions about Democratic Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas’s alleged drug trafficking enterprise.
Four conversations in which Lucas allegedly discussed her cannabis business included one or more unindicted colleagues between 2022 and March, according to the federal grand jury indictment of Lucas announced Thursday. No other lawmaker is among the six defendants charged with Lucas, which include family members of hers.
Prosecutors hit Lucas with conspiracy charges related to racketeering, possessing and distributing marijuana, money laundering, and honest services fraud, plus maintaining a drug-involved premises. The DOJ presented the case as a massive blow to government corruption, as Lucas has been an elected Virginia lawmaker since 1992, leads the state Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, and became state Senate president pro tempore in 2020. Prosecutors said her business was more widely known beyond the seven defendants, with the indictment mentioning unindicted co-conspirators alongside the unnamed politicians.
News broke earlier this year that the FBI had been investigating Lucas since the Biden administration, and there was already indication that the inquiry cast a wide net. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) said in September that he received a DOJ notification that federal agents monitored phone calls between him and Lucas with a court’s permission. However, the indictment does not implicate any member of Congress.
Lucas compared the charges to racial segregation in a Thursday statement without addressing the allegations in substance. A federal magistrate judge ordered her pretrial release from jail on Thursday after her arrest earlier that day.
“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.
“I’m not new to this. I’m true to this. I will not be intimidated. I will not be bullied. And I will not back down.”
‘When I did it, it was obviously illegal’
After starting his job in 2022, a law enforcement official tried warning Lucas to “stop selling marijuana” and asked her why “she would engage in criminal behavior,” according to the indictment. Another Virginia legislator was present for the meeting, prosecutors said.
As the legality of cannabis changed over time, Lucas used her political influence to “insulate” members of her drug enterprise from law enforcement by granting licenses and pursuing legislation with the goal of enriching herself, the indictment alleges.
Lucas allegedly called a Virginia lawmaker in March, telling them she needed to be covered under co-defendant Carlton Upton Jr.’s hemp license. “I got to get the license, and I got to get the money rolling in because I want … generational wealth,” Lucas said, according to prosecutors.
An unnamed legislator told Lucas in a conference call two days later that certain legislation would ensure “everything is on the up and up,” referring to marijuana, according to the indictment. The call allegedly included another of Lucas’s co-defendants.
“And make it legal because … when I did it, it was obviously illegal,” Lucas allegedly replied.
Lucas also discussed that day how she tried to “disqualify” someone from a license “until he pays me back my money” during a conference call that included two state legislators, the DOJ claimed.
Prosecutors accused the Portsmouth Democrat of making other candid statements about her objectives in front of others. “This is our last chance at generational wealth. … I’ve got too old not to be greedy,” she allegedly told an unindicted co-conspirator in February about pending legislation.
The Trump administration is disputing criticism from Democrats who expressed alarm at the investigation and about the charges happening during a midterm election year. Lucas is not up for reelection until 2027, however.
“Today’s indictment reveals Louise Lucas allegedly abused her position of public trust as a 30 year Virginia State Senator to put her own financial interests ahead of the people she represents — orchestrating a five-year scheme worth an estimated $4.5 million,” FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday on social media.