The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Lillie Louise Lucas, a member of the Democratic Party and a serving Virginia state senator, with drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and firearms charges.

Ms Lucas, 82, who has been a lawmaker for over three decades, was charged alongside six others on Thursday by the DoJ.

The senator was charged in an eight-count indictment, bordering on 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.

According to the indictment, Ms Lucas led a criminal enterprise (the Lucas Enterprise) comprised of a close-knit group of associates and family members, including her two daughters and her grandson.

Ms Lucas “allegedly approved and directed activities of the enterprise, including arranging for the acquisition and distribution of 100 kilogrammes or more of marijuana and supervising the laundering of marijuana proceeds,” the U.S. Department of Justice said.

It added, Ms “Lucas allegedly used her political position to insulate the Lucas Enterprise from criminal scrutiny and to influence legislation benefiting the enterprise.”

Ms Lucas was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1991 and has served as the president pro tempore since 2020. She currently chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, which handles the state budget, tax policy, and state expenditures.

U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “Louise Lucas has served in a position of public trust in the Commonwealth of Virginia for over three decades. The charges alleged in this indictment reveal the behaviour of a public servant who put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve.”

“Today’s indictment reveals Louise Lucas allegedly abused her position of public trust as a 30-year Virginia State Senator to put her own financial interests ahead of the people she represents — orchestrating a five-year scheme worth an estimated $4.5 million,” Federal Bureau of Investigation czar Kash Patel said.

He added, “The charges allege Lucas and a close-knit group of family members and associates used Lucas’ position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to protect their criminal marijuana enterprise—the ‘Lucas Enterprise’—insulating the business from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves.”