NORFOLK, Va. — Federal authorities on Thursday charged a prominent Virginia Democrat with racketeering and a money laundering conspiracy as part of an alleged public corruption case involving a cannabis business she co-owns.
Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump who is one of the most powerful Democrats in the state, surrendered to authorities Thursday. She was also charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana. A half dozen others, including Lucas’ daughters, were also in custody and charged in the alleged scheme.
The investigation into the 82-year-old Lucas predates the Trump administration, NBC News previously reported. But the Justice Department’s move, just 12 days before a midterm election, is unusual, as federal authorities have typically avoided taking overt investigative steps against political figures so close to an election. Lucas is not up for re-election this year but has ties to prominent Democrats who are on the ballot....
The indictment alleges that members of the conspiracy “used various business entities” to “disguise the proceeds of illegal marijuana distribution,” and that Lucas “used her political position in the Virginia state senate to insulate” the enterprise “from criminal scrutiny, to further the goal of wealth accumulation.”
In one intercepted phone call in February 2026 with an alleged co-conspirator who has not been indicted, Lucas allegedly said that this was their “last chance at generational wealth,” adding “I’ve gotten too old to not be greedy.”
Lucas has been a proponent of marijuana legalization in Virginia. The state now allows for possession of marijuana for adults over 21, but recreational marijuana sales remain unlawful.
That is set to change; this summer, the governor and state legislators announced an agreement to allow the licensed retail sale of marijuana beginning July 1, 2027.
Greed is ugly when it involves invention and new technologies but so pretty when the greed is setting up a generation for mental illness.
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