BREAKING: Feds arrest VA Dem Senate President Pro Tempore for drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud

According to a 45-page indictment against Lucas and others, she told an unindicted co-conspirator in the case that she wanted a recreational marijuana license in the state to create "generational wealth" for her family and said that "this is my last chance."

Lucas was charged for the alleged crimes on Thursday and has been accused of directing an enterprise to buy and sell over 100 kilograms of illegal marijuana. Others that have been indicted alongside her include her daughters, Lisa-Lucas Burke and Theresa Lucas-Lamb. Her grandson, Ryan Eichelberger, in addition to multiple other codefendants were charged in the scheme.

The charges come after her offices were searched by federal law enforcement earlier this year as well as a marijuana shop called "The Cannabis Outlet." She co-owns the marijuana outlet at a location in Portsmouth, Virginia.

The length of the investigation dates back to 2019, when the Biden administration was in office.

“Louise Lucas has served in a position of public trust in the Commonwealth of Virginia for over three decades,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The charges alleged in this indictment reveal the behavior of a public servant who put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve. Our federal prosecutors will continue to be guided by the facts and evidence that led a grand jury to indict Ms. Lucas and her alleged co-conspirators.”

The Cannabis Outlet was opened up in Portsmouth, Virginia in 2021 and family members of Lucas allegedly acquired the marijuana and then distributed the drugs.

Lucas released a statement in response to the allegations, saying, "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."

Lucas was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1991 and has served as the pro tempore since 2020. The indictment says that she used her position and power to insulate the alleged criminal enterprise from scrutiny. She also allegedly used her position to influence the legislative process to benefit the scheme.