82-yr-old US senator charged with drug trafficking, money laundering
An 82-year-old Democratic state senator in Virginia, L. Louise Lucas, has been indicted alongside six others, including members of her family, over an alleged racketeering conspiracy involving the illegal sale of marijuana and money laundering.
According to the indictment, Lucas, president pro tempore of Virginia’s Senate, allegedly operated several businesses that bought and sold illegal quantities of marijuana in the state to build her family’s wealth.
The indictment also accuses her of using her political influence to protect the alleged operation from criminal scrutiny and influence legislation for financial gain.
In a statement on the charges, FBI Director Kash Patel alleged that Lucas worked with “a close-knit group of family members and associates” to build a “criminal marijuana enterprise”.
Patel further accused the senator of using her “position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves.”
Lucas faces charges including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana, and conspiracy to launder money. A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed that she had surrendered to law enforcement.
Responding to the indictment on Thursday, Lucas criticised the federal government’s actions against her.
“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,” Lucas said in a statement.
“I grew up under Jim Crow. I’ve seen what happens when people in power try to silence those who stand up to them. I spent my life fighting back, and I’m not stopping now.”
Lucas has long advocated for the legalisation of marijuana in Virginia, including through legislative efforts. However, prosecutors allege that she and her co-conspirators spent years selling and maintaining illegal quantities of the drug through various businesses and shops.
Virginia recently passed a law permitting regulated retail marijuana sales from July 1, 2027.
The indictment comes weeks before Election Day, although Lucas is not seeking re-election this year. Her daughter, Lisa Lucas-Burke, who was also charged in the case, is running for City Council in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Virginia Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger said she had reviewed the charging document and maintained that Lucas and her family should be allowed to defend themselves against the allegations.
“They deserve the opportunity to present their defense and speak to the allegations presented,” Spanberger said.
She also criticised the timing of the indictment, arguing that it could undermine public confidence in the Justice Department.
“The timing of this indictment undermines the U.S. Department of Justice’s previously longstanding policy of not taking legal actions — to include indictments or significant investigative steps — close to an election and sadly, this timing further erodes the trust the American people deserve to have in the Department of Justice,” Spanberger said.
Earlier this year, FBI agents executed search warrants at two of Lucas’s marijuana shops as part of an investigation that began under former President Joe Biden. According to the indictment, investigators recovered marijuana and firearms from both locations.
Lucas, who was elected to the Virginia State Senate in 1991, is also accused of paying $750,000 for a 100 per cent stake in a shell holding company that prosecutors allege was established to help a co-conspirator obtain a state licence to sell marijuana.
Prosecutors further allege that Lucas subsequently received what the Justice Department described as a “bribery payment” from the co-conspirator in connection with her efforts.
The department also alleged that Lucas “failed to report the interest obtained in this entity on her required Statement of Economic Interests forms” as a legislator.
In a statement announcing the charges, the Justice Department alleged that Lucas met with the co-conspirator at her office in the Capitol complex to receive a partial repayment.
“Lucas allegedly met with the co-conspirator at her office at the capitol complex to receive a partial repayment and spoke with other officials, including legislators, about the co-conspirator’s qualification for a recreational marijuana license depending on her receipt of a bribery payment from the co-conspirator,” the department said.
Investigators also alleged that Lucas spoke with an unidentified co-conspirator by phone in February about obtaining a recreational marijuana licence and sharing the proceeds.
“This is our last chance at generational wealth,” investigators quoted Lucas as telling the co-conspirator.
“I’ve got too old to not be greedy.”
Vanguard News
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