Federal authorities have charged 82-year-old Virginia State Senator L. Louise Lucas with racketeering, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and gun possession as part of an alleged public corruption scheme tied to a cannabis business that she co-owns.
Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate and one of the most powerful Democrats in the state, surrendered to authorities Thursday, according to a Justice Department spokesperson.
Authorities also charged and took into custody a half-dozen others in the alleged scheme.
Virginia journalist Brandon Scope wrote on X, “sources tell me that members of Sen. Louise Lucas’ family have already been arrested.”
The indictment alleges that members of the conspiracy used various business entities to disguise the proceeds of illegal marijuana distribution.
It further claims 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.”
