A Virginia grand jury has indicted Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas and several others, including members of her family, for participating in a racketeering conspiracy to sell marijuana and launder the proceeds.
According to the indictment, Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate who pushed for the drug to be legalized, operated several businesses that bought and sold illegal quantities of marijuana in the state to increase his family’s wealth.
In a statement on the charges, FBI Director Kash Patel claimed that Lucas, through “a close-knit group of family members and associates,” worked to build a “criminal marijuana enterprise” and used the state senator’s “position as chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to shield the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influence legislation to profit financially.”
She is charged with crimes including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Lucas turned himself in to law enforcement, according to a Justice Department spokesperson.
Lucas has long advocated for the legalization of marijuana in Virginia, including through legislation. The indictment, however, alleges that Lucas and his co-conspirators sold and maintained illegal quantities of the licensed drug at his various businesses and stores for years.
CNN has attempted to reach Lucas for comment.
Earlier this year, FBI agents executed search warrants at two of Lucas’ marijuana stores as part of an investigation launched under President Joe Biden. According to the indictment, officers recovered marijuana and firearms from both stores.
Lucas, who was elected to the state Senate in 1991, is also accused of paying $750,000 for a 100 percent stake in a fictitious holding company prosecutors say was created for a co-conspirator to obtain a license to sell marijuana in Virginia. Prosecutors say Lucas later received what the Justice Department called a “corrupt payment” from the co-conspirator for his efforts.
The Justice Department alleged that Lucas “failed to report interests obtained in this entity on required declaration of economic interests forms” as a lawmaker.
“Lucas allegedly met with the co-conspirator in his office in the Capitol complex to receive a partial reimbursement and spoke with other officials, including lawmakers, about the co-conspirator’s qualification for a recreational marijuana license based on receipt of a bribe from the co-conspirator,” the Justice Department alleged in a press release announcing the charges.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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