Virginia State Senator Lillie Louise Lucas, 82, was charged in an eight-count federal indictment with leading a criminal marijuana distribution enterprise that prosecutors say involved family members, associates, money laundering, and the use of her public office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced Thursday.
In a statement posted on X Lucas said, “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. 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. I’m not new to this. I’m true to this. I will not be intimidated. I will not be bullied. And I will not back down.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) said the allegations are serious and that Lucas is entitled to the presumption of innocence, urging restraint in commenting on the evidence. Virginia allows adult possession of marijuana but does not yet permit regulated recreational retail sales; a licensed marketplace framework is scheduled to launch next year.
The indictment, returned October 14 and unsealed Thursday (Case No. 4:26-cr-00075), charges Lucas and six co-defendants for roles in a racketeering conspiracy involving marijuana distribution, money laundering, honest-services fraud through bribery, maintaining drug-involved premises, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, and wire fraud.
Lucas, the Portsmouth Democrat who has served in the Senate since 1991, as president pro tempore since 2020, and as chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, faces five counts: racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to commit honest-services fraud, and maintaining a drug-involved premises. The co-defendants face varying combinations of those and additional charges.
The indictment describes a February 9, phone call in which Lucas discussed pending recreational marijuana legislation and the possibility of an associate receiving a license and sharing proceeds with her. “This is our last chance at generational wealth…. I’ve got too old to not be greedy,” she allegedly said.
According to the Justice Department press release, Lucas directed what prosecutors call the “Lucas Enterprise,” comprised of a close-knit group of associates and family members, including her two daughters and her grandson. She allegedly approved and directed activities of the enterprise, including arranging for the acquisition and distribution of 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and supervising the laundering of marijuana proceeds. Lucas used her political position to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and to influence legislation benefiting the enterprise, prosecutors allege.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the charges allege Lucas and associates orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their criminal marijuana enterprise using her position as chairwoman “to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the charges reveal “the behavior of a public servant who put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve.”
Lucas and her daughter Lisa Lucas-Burke opened The Cannabis Outlet in Portsmouth in 2021. Another daughter, Theresa Lucas-Lamb, and Lucas-Lamb’s son Ryan Eichelberger allegedly acquired marijuana, supervised its distribution, and managed The Cannabis Outlet for the enterprise.
Carlton Upton Jr., 54, of Chesapeake, was Lucas’ business partner in VA Freedom Life (an umbrella for The CBD Shoppe and The Cannabis Outlet beginning in 2019); he managed The CBD Shoppe and allegedly worked with Lucas to obtain a recreational marijuana license to benefit the enterprise. In April 2020, Upton allegedly made materially false attestations on an Economic Injury Disaster Loan application for Virginia Freedom Life, which was funded for $11,800.
Prince Albert William Hudson III and Tameka Johnson are also charged. On February 1, 2022, Lucas listed herself as president and CEO of VA Freedom Life on her Statement of Economic Interests form.
In August 2022, Lucas allegedly paid $750,000 for a 100% stake in a business that was the shell holding company for a co-conspirator’s expected Virginia recreational marijuana license. She allegedly failed to report the interest on her required Statement of Economic Interests forms. Prosecutors allege she met with the co-conspirator at her Capitol complex office 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.
On May 6, the FBI executed search warrants at The Cannabis Outlet and The CBD Shoppe; agents recovered marijuana and firearms at both locations, according to the press release. The investigation is described as years-long. All seven defendants were in federal custody Thursday; Lucas surrendered that morning and was expected to appear before a magistrate.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric M. Hurt and Brian J. Samuels are prosecuting the case.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
Photo “State Senator Louise Lucas” by State Senator Louise Lucas.
