Virginia State Senator Louise Lucas Charged in Federal Racketeering and Marijuana Case

Federal authorities have charged Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas, one of the most powerful Democrats in the state, with racketeering and a money laundering conspiracy in a public corruption case centered on a cannabis business she co-owns. She also faces a charge of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Lucas, 82, surrendered to authorities on Thursday, according to a Justice Department spokesperson. Six other people, including relatives, are also in custody.

Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Norfolk to announce the charges at a press conference. Blanche said Lucas put her own financial interests ahead of the people she was elected to serve. "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," he said. He rejected the idea that politics was behind the case, saying, "We don't do political paybacks," and urged Americans to read the indictment.

According to the indictment, members of the conspiracy used various business entities to disguise the proceeds of illegal marijuana distribution. It further alleges that Lucas used her position in the state senate to shield the enterprise from criminal scrutiny in pursuit of wealth. In a February 2026 phone call intercepted with an unindicted co-conspirator, Lucas allegedly described it as their "last chance at generational wealth," adding, "I've gotten too old to not be greedy."

Lucas, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, said on social media that she would not be intimidated or back down. "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 wrote, adding that she grew up under Jim Crow and has spent her life fighting back. NBC News has asked her office and her legal counsel for comment.

The investigation predates the Trump administration. Even so, bringing charges just 12 days before a midterm election is unusual, since federal authorities have typically avoided overt investigative steps against political figures so close to voting. Lucas is not on the ballot this year but has ties to prominent Democrats who are. Gov. Abigail Spanberger said the timing undermines the department's longstanding policy against such actions near an election and further erodes public trust. She also stressed that Lucas is presumed innocent and deserves the chance to present a defense.

In May, federal agents searched Lucas' office in Portsmouth and The Cannabis Outlet, the High Street store she opened in 2021. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam said his communications with Lucas were monitored and accused the Justice Department of carrying out vendettas against Trump's political enemies. A reporter with WAVY, an NBC affiliate, also received a letter indicating his communications with Lucas' number were swept up in the wire. Lucas has said the store sells legal hemp and CBD products, though local media have scrutinized allegations that some items were mislabeled. Virginia has legalized marijuana possession, but retail sales of recreational marijuana remain illegal.

Lucas has served in the state senate for 34 years and chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. She was a prominent voice in Virginia's Democrat-led redistricting effort, which sought to counter Republican redrawing pushed by Trump. In a June interview with NBC Washington, she called it awfully coincidental that the May search followed her redistricting push, noting there had been "no arrests, no charges made, nothing."

Her career in public life began in the 1980s, when she became the first Black woman elected to a city council seat in her native Portsmouth. She is now the first woman and first African American to serve as the Senate's president pro tempore. She was also the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's first female shipfitter and has been CEO of a Portsmouth business that provides residences, day programs and transportation for intellectually disabled adults.