Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34) called for restraint as the state’s political establishment reels from accusations of marijuana trafficking and money laundering against Senate President pro tempore L. Louise Lucas.
One of the state’s most powerful Democrats and Portsmouth’s representative in the state Senate since 1991, Lucas (D-18) was charged today (Thursday) by the U.S. Department of Justice with racketeering, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and maintaining a drug-involved premises.
The indictment, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Newport News on Oct. 14 but wasn’t unsealed until today, also named six other people, including family members and business associates.
According to federal officials, Lucas allegedly approved and oversaw the acquisition and distribution of at least 100 kilograms of marijuana and supervised the laundering of the resulting proceeds. The indictment accused Lucas of using her political power to insulate the alleged marijuana-selling enterprise from scrutiny and influence legislation that could benefit her, her family and her business partners.
She “put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve,” said U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, who spoke at a news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel.
Lucas surrendered, a Justice Department spokesperson said, and was expected to make an initial appearance in federal court on Thursday afternoon.
The charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering, came after the FBI searched Lucas’ hometown office and a cannabis shop in which she has a stake in May. At the time of the search, Lucas — who has been a vocal critic of Republican President Donald Trump’s administration — characterized it as an attempt to intimidate her.
In a statement posted to her social media accounts this morning, Lucas didn’t directly address the charges, but suggested this was a case of people in power attempting “to silence those who stand up to them.”
“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,” she said in the statement. “… I will not be intimidated. I will not be bullied. And I will not back down.”
FBI alleges a ‘criminal marijuana enterprise’
Patel said in a statement that “Lucas and a close-knit group of family members and associates orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their own criminal marijuana enterprise, ‘the Lucas Enterprise’ — using Lucas’ position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves.”
The indictment describes Lucas as the “leader of the enterprise” who “approved and directed criminal activities,” including arranging for the acquisition and distribution of marijuana and supervising the laundering of the proceeds.
The indictment alleges Lucas worked this year with another of the defendants to use her political position to obtain a recreational marijuana license for him, with the understanding that the proceeds from sales under the license would be shared with her to support the “enterprise.”
Since 2021, marijuana has been legal to possess in Virginia, and many shops across the state have sold cannabis-derived products. But full recreational sales are not yet underway; legislation enacted earlier this year will allow them beginning in July 2027.
Law enforcement made multiple controlled purchases of marijuana from Lucas’ shop, which purported to sell hemp products, in 2024 and 2025, the indictment said.
Among the other defendants are two daughters of Lucas and a grandson. It was unclear if they had obtained legal representation. They were also scheduled to make an initial court appearance Thursday afternoon.
Virginia political leaders react
Surovell, who represents southeastern Fairfax County, acknowledged that the indictment “contains serious allegations,” but he also highlighted Lucas’s significant role in Virginia politics and long history of public service, stating that he’s “proud to call her a colleague and a friend.”
“Senator Lucas is entitled to the same presumption of innocence that every American receives,” Surovell said in a statement. “She is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. I will not comment on the evidence in this case, and I urge others to show the same restraint.”
Surovell also expressed continued skepticism of the motives behind the investigation into Lucas, arguing that it appears to be “driven by politics.”
“When agents searched her office, Fox News was tipped off in advance,” he said. “The Department of Justice is led by the President’s former personal attorney, and this prosecution is being brought by the most corrupt administration in American history.”
Surovell noted that the indictment comes at a time of “unstable” leadership in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which has been led on an acting basis by two different Trump appointees — first, by Lindsey Halligan, whose appointment was deemed unlawful by a federal judge, and as of July, by former Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos.
According to Surovell:
Federal law provides that U.S. Attorneys are nominated by the President and confirmed by the full Senate. That process gives Virginia’s senators a voice in who holds this office, and it is a safeguard against undue influence by the Department of Justice or the administration over prosecutions in our Commonwealth. Leaving the office to acting or interim officials, rather than nominating a qualified candidate for confirmation, bypasses that safeguard.
“Senator Lucas has the right to defend herself, and she has my full support as she does so,” he concluded. “I will continue to focus on the work of the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Commonwealth while this case proceeds through the courts.”
Virginia Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle (R-26), meanwhile, said that he won’t provide any additional comment “while the constitutional process plays out.”
“The federal indictment contains serious allegations, and the justice system will continue to do its job and get to the bottom of it,” he said.
House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott (D-88) called both the allegations against Lucas and the Trump administration’s “weaponization of the justice system” against political opponents “deeply troubling.”
“Senator Lucas has spent decades serving the people of Portsmouth and the Commonwealth of Virginia, and she is entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence,” Scott said in a statement. “… Today we have heard only from the Trump administration, and Senator Lucas will have her chance to respond to these charges in court.”
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) questioned the timing of the indictment, which comes less than two weeks before the midterm elections:
“I have read the charging document alleging a series of criminal acts by a member of the Virginia Senate. In our American system of justice, people are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that is true for Senator L. Louise Lucas. She and her family deserve the opportunity to present their defense and speak to the allegations presented.
“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.”
While no state-level offices are on the ballot this year in Virginia, voters are weighing three proposed amendments to the state constitution and could play a decisive role in the makeup of the next Congress. Early voting is underway for the Nov. 3 general election.
Justice Department rejects suggestion politics played a role
The indictment comes as Trump’s Justice Department has faced intense scrutiny over investigations and prosecutions against foes of the president that critics have called politically motivated.
Blanche rejected any suggestion that politics played a role in Lucas’ case, noting that the investigation began well before the second Trump administration started in January 2025.
“We don’t do political paybacks,” Blanche told reporters.
A person familiar with the May search told The Associated Press at the time that the probe was opened during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.
Lucas has long supported legalizing marijuana
A forceful advocate of legalizing marijuana, Lucas partnered in opening the shop, The Cannabis Outlet, in 2021, selling hemp and CBD products. While marijuana is legal to possess in Virginia, recreational retail sales of the drug are not yet underway, though shops across the state do sell other cannabis-derived products.
Lucas also runs a network of companies that provide residential, transportation and other services to adults with intellectual disabilities.
Court records related to the case for months have been sealed, though earlier this year the Department of Justice sent at least two rounds of letters notifying journalists, politicians and others in Lucas’ orbit that their communications with Lucas had been intercepted as part of a court-approved wiretap that ran for two one-month time spans.
At the time of the search, many Democrats spoke up to defend Lucas, expressing skepticism about the basis for the search, given the Department of Justice’s efforts to establish criminal conduct by perceived Trump opponents.
Lucas has publicly spoken about her ownership stake in the cannabis shop as recently as June, though her most recent financial disclosure forms do not list the business by name.
