A federal indictment unsealed on Thursday, October 22, charged Virginia state Senator Lillie Louise Lucas, 82, of Portsmouth, with leading a criminal marijuana distribution enterprise, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Lucas surrendered on Thursday, a Justice Department spokesperson told the Associated Press.
The eight-count indictment charges seven defendants in total — including Lucas's two daughters and her grandson — for their alleged roles in a racketeering conspiracy involving marijuana distribution, money laundering, honest services fraud through bribery, maintaining drug-involved premises, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, and wire fraud, the DOJ said.
According to the indictment, Lucas led the 'Lucas Enterprise,' a close-knit group of family members and associates, and allegedly approved and directed its activities, including arranging for the acquisition and distribution of 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and supervising the laundering of the proceeds. Prosecutors allege she used her position as chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee — the powerful budget committee — to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and to influence legislation benefiting it.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the charges allege 'the behavior of a public servant who put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve.' FBI Director Kash Patel said the indictment alleges Lucas 'orchestrating a five-year scheme worth an estimated $4.5 million.' First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos for the Eastern District of Virginia said the indictment alleges a sitting senator 'led a criminal organization that exploited access and influence.'
The indictment says Lucas and her daughter Lisa Lucas-Burke opened The Cannabis Outlet in Portsmouth in 2021, with her other daughter, Theresa Lucas-Lamb, and Lucas-Lamb's son, Ryan Eichelberger, allegedly acquiring marijuana and managing the outlet. Business partner Carlton Upton Jr., 54, of Chesapeake, managed The CBD Shoppe under the umbrella company VA Freedom Life, prosecutors allege. On May 6, the FBI executed search warrants at The Cannabis Outlet and The CBD Shoppe and recovered marijuana and firearms at both locations, the DOJ said.
Lucas, first elected to the Virginia Senate in 1991 and president pro tempore since 2020, has been a leading advocate of legalising marijuana and a vocal critic of President Donald Trump's administration. When the FBI searched her hometown office and the cannabis shop in May, she characterised it as an attempt to intimidate her, the AP reported. On Thursday, Brian Woolfolk, chief counsel for the L. Louise Lucas Legal Defense Fund, told the AP: 'This is the circus we always expected it to be, and we will wait for further details to have a more specific response.' A person familiar with the matter told the AP the probe was opened during President Joe Biden's administration.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric M. Hurt and Brian J. Samuels are prosecuting the case in the Eastern District of Virginia. The Justice Department stresses that an indictment is merely an allegation and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
What is solid
- An eight-count indictment unsealed Thursday charges Lucas and six others, including her two daughters and grandson — DOJ statement and AP reporting.
- Lucas surrendered on Thursday — Justice Department spokesperson, via AP.
- The FBI searched The Cannabis Outlet and The CBD Shoppe on May 6 and recovered marijuana and firearms at both locations — DOJ.
What is only claimed
- The alleged $4.5 million value, the alleged use of her committee chairmanship to shield the enterprise, and all other conduct described in the indictment are prosecutors' allegations, not proven facts.
- Lucas previously characterised the May searches as an attempt to intimidate her; her legal defence fund called Thursday's charges 'the circus we always expected.'