Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, a Trump critic, charged in marijuana racketeering case

An indictment unsealed on Thursday charged Lucas and six other defendants, including several of her relatives

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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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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 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.