The Justice Department indicted Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the most powerful Democrats in the commonwealth, as part of a long-running corruption investigation involving a family-run marijuana business.
The indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury in Virginia last week and unsealed Thursday morning, alleges that Lucas and her relatives set up a business to sell marijuana before the substance was legalized for recreational sales in the commonwealth. Lucas, who co-owns a marijuana business, has turned herself in to authorities, while multiple members of her family were arrested Thursday morning.
The indictment of Lucas (D-Portsmouth), the 82-year-old president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate, is a staggering turn in the long career of the brash-talking grandmother. She has amassed considerable influence among Democrats in Virginia and frequently uses social media to taunt and lambaste Republicans, including President Donald Trump.
Lucas is not up for reelection and Virginia Democrats have a stronghold in the state legislature, but her indictment is a political shock wave less than two weeks before the national midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.
While federal officials have historically avoided taking public steps in politically fraught cases ahead of elections, the case against Lucas is the second prominent action the administration has taken against a Democratic critic of Trump in the past 10 days.
Last week, federal officers searched the D.C. home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is up for reelection, as part of an immigration probe. Like Lucas, the congresswoman from Minnesota is a Democrat who has assailed Trump.
Virginia decriminalized marijuana possession and legalized medical marijuana sales in 2020. The state also legalized its sale for adult recreational use this year. Permits for non-medical, recreational sales are set to be issued beginning next year.
Lucas sponsored key legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.
According to the indictment, Lucas and her relatives created a business to sell marijuana for recreational sales in 2021. That business often operated under a fake name to procure marijuana, according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleges that Lucas used her political influence to enact legislation and regulations that would help her cannabis business.
The FBI in May raided Lucas’s Portsmouth offices and a cannabis retail business she co-owns.
At the time, Lucas’s longtime political consultant, Ben Tribbett, said the raided offices were primarily dedicated to the state lawmaker’s various business interests and that no items related to her legislative career were seized.
The indictment unsealed Thursday says that authorities seized large amounts of marijuana from the business.
Lucas and Virginia Democrats have raised questions about the motivation behind the case, noting that the Justice Department under Trump has aggressively targeted his political foes.
Lucas is a character of the rough-hewn port city where she was born. She is the oldest of seven children, and her father drove a forklift at the segregated Norfolk Naval Shipyard. After Lucas dropped out of high school to have her first child, she also took a job at the shipyard, eventually becoming a pipe fitter.
By the time she was 21, Lucas was married and the mother of three children. Her ambition and imperious manner helped her rise in the Democratic power structure of Portsmouth. She became the first African American woman to serve on the city council and was a longtime community activist before winning election to the Virginia Senate in 1991.
Known for her stylish dress and sharp tongue, Lucas eventually became the first Black woman to serve as president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate and is chairwoman of the Finance and Appropriations Committee, giving her significant control over the state’s budget.
She has never been shy about wielding political power. In 2024, Lucas used her authority over the state budget to almost single-handedly block the attempt of then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) to build a major sports arena in Alexandria. She then stood in the background smiling for news cameras as Youngkin angrily denounced her to reporters.
Earlier this year, Lucas defied Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a fellow Democrat, by holding up passage of the state budget until she could get a deal to limit tax benefits to data center developers. Lucas also was a driving force behind the push by Virginia lawmakers to draw new congressional boundaries this year to favor Democrats, again defying Spanberger’s wishes.
Voters approved the referendum to redraw the state’s congressional map, but it was overturned by the state Supreme Court.
Lucas has built a large social media following by criticizing Republicans online. She is also no stranger to controversy. During the 2020 protests against racial injustice and police brutality, Lucas spoke to a crowd gathered around a Confederate statue in Portsmouth. Shortly after she left, a man was gravely injured when protesters pulled down the statue.
The local prosecutor said Lucas had incited the crowd and charged her with a felony. The case was eventually dropped. Lucas’s defense lawyer was Del. Don Scott (D-Portsmouth), who is now the first African American to serve as speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Lucas has extensive business and real estate holdings in Portsmouth and was instrumental in bringing a casino to the city, where her daughter has served on city council.
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