Feds charge L. Louise Lucas, Virginia state senator who led Democrats’ redistricting push

Updated on: October 22, 2026 / 9:54 AM EDT / CBS News

Norfolk, Virginia — L. Louise Lucas, a powerful Virginia state senator and vocal Trump critic who played a central role in the state's redistricting effort last year, has been arrested in connection with an alleged bribery and racketeering scheme, a Justice Department spokesperson said Thursday.

According to a 45-page indictment filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, Lucas and six other co-defendants are charged with conspiring to distribute and possess marijuana, conspiring to launder money, laundering money and committing bribery by distributing large quantities of illegal marijuana under the auspices of her legal medical cannabis business.

Lucas, 82, surrendered to law enforcement on Thursday morning. She faces five of the eight charges included in the indictment.

The charges come nearly six months after federal law enforcement searched Lucas' office and a shop called The Cannabis Outlet that she co-owns in Portsmouth, Virginia. One source familiar with the investigation told CBS News at the time of the search that the investigation started during the Biden administration.

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia alleged in the indictment that since at least 2019, Lucas has been the leader of…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/