Remember Louise 'Ten F****n One" Lucas? The Democrat president pro tempore of the Virginia state senate pushed an unconstitutional redistricting map that put half of the state's congressional districts in Fairfax County, and then bragged about it with T-shirts with that R-rated slogan in graffiti script. The state supreme court struck down Lucas' attempt to eliminate Republicans from Virginia's delegation in May, putting an end to her self-promotion.
By then, though, Lucas' problems had only just started. Two days before the court ruling, the FBI raided her office in an investigation that had begun during the Biden Regency, reported at the time as a public corruption probe. Attorney General Todd Blanche dropped the other shoe this morning, announcing that Lucas has been charged in a RICO case involving money laundering and drug trafficking:
AG Todd Blanche: "This morning, seven individuals were arrested or surrendered for allegedly participating in a large-scale RICO drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy. One of those individuals is the President pro tempore of the Virginia State Senate, Lillie Louise Lucas... Senator Lucas has been charged and indicted with 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." https://t.co/aD9y7XTJFM
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 22, 2026
According to ABC News, the Lucas crime ring was a family affair:
Lucas, 82, has long been a powerful force in Virginia state politics and previously spearheaded the commonwealth's redistricting effort which was reversed by the state's Supreme Court earlier this year.
But in a sweeping 45-page indictment unsealed Thursday, prosecutors accuse her of using her legislative office to help support a "criminal enterprise" through a marijuana dispensary business with charges ranging from racketeering, money laundering, drug trafficking and fraud.
The indictment charges Lucas and six others, including Lucas' two daughters and a grandson, with arranging for the purchase and sale of more than 100 kilos of marijuana, and laundering the profits -- with Lucas allegedly using her role as the Virginia Senate pro-tempore and chair of the Finance and Appropriations committee to shield her activities from scrutiny.
Lucas self-surrendered to authorities Thursday morning, according to a DOJ official.
Lucas surrendered, but she's not going quietly:
NEW: Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas releases statement after FBI arrest & DOJ charges against her. She mentions Jim Crow, points out she is an 82-year-old great grandmother, and says “I’m not new to this, I’m true to this…I will not back down.” https://t.co/YaPwx0bwBh
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 22, 2026
Lucas can play the race card all she wants, but ABC News actually commits an act of journalism and reminds readers when this probe started:
The federal corruption probe, which sources previously told ABC News dated back to the Biden administration, has been known since May of this year when the FBI carried out searches of Lucas' office and a marijuana dispensary business she owned.
The indictment paints a much different picture, as one might expect. The FBI had obtained wiretap warrants targeting the Lucas ring, and they had people watching the transactions taking place with family members selling marijuana and hiding money. Lucas ran the operation and told an unindicted co-conspirator that this was her last opportunity for "generational wealth":
93. On or about January 31, 2026, LOUISE LUCAS and UCC #2 met at her legislative office at 1214 County Street, Portsmouth, VA. During the meeting LOUISE LUCAS called LISA LUCAS-BURKE and EICHELBERGER for a group conversation during which they discussed their sources of supply for marijuana. When asked by UCC #2 whether The Cannabis Outlet was receiving hemp, LUCAS-BURKE and EICHELBERGER both responded "[i]t's not hemp, it's THС."
94. On or about January 31, 2026, following the conclusion of the group conversation, LOUISE LUCAS and UCC #2 continued discussing marijuana and marijuana licensing as a way for LOUISE LUCAS to "get generational wealth and this is my last chance."
She had a similar conversation a few days later, tying her greed to legislative activity that she pushed:
99. On or about February 9, 2026, LOUISE LUCAS called UCC #2 and discussed the language surrounding the recreational marijuana legislation pending in the Virginia General Assembly and the possibility of UCC #2 receiving a license and sharing the proceeds with her because "this is our last chance at generational wealth.... I've got too old to not be greedy."
And again, a month later:
102. On or about March 9, 2026, LOUISE LUCAS telephoned another Virginia legislator and informed them that she needed to get the marijuana license because "I got to get the license and I got to get the money rolling in because I want -- I want to make generation, create some generational wealth.... I need to be covered under his (UPTON's) um, hemp license." UPTON and the license were discussed in prior conversations between LOUISE LUCAS and the Virginia legislator.
Lucas seemed very preoccupied with using her position to guarantee that generational wealth:
109. On or about April 23, 2026, LOUISE LUCAS telephoned a member of the CCA who asked if there was anything they could do for her. LOUISE LUCAS responded that she needed ‘to invest in something that -- that can help me generate some uh, generational wealth for my family." When the board member suggested cannabis licenses, LOUISE LUCAS responded that "got a couple of bad apples who are going to be applying for a license who do not get them."
Roughly two weeks later, the FBI raided Lucas' office, likely ending the discussions about generational wealth.
As for the timing of this investigation, the FBI had started tracking Lucas' crime ring in 2022, when Lucas was dumb enough to personally buy several pounds of marijuana while having her daughter write a check for the purchase:
9. On or about April 19, 2022, LOUISE LUCAS asked ICC #1 if they were a member of law enforcement before purchasing between three and five pounds of marijuana from ICC #1.
10. On or about April 19, 2022, LISA LUCAS-BURKE, paid ICC #1 (Freedom is Dope) $6,600.00 via check from Virginia Freedom Life, for the marijuana.
And in a twist that is too funny to be believed, the check bounced. Lucas' daughter wrote a replacement check from another Lucas LLC:
11. The $6,600.00 check drawn on the Virginia Freedom Life, LLC account, was returned for insufficient funds.
12. On or about June 8, 2022, LOUISE LUCAS, wrote a check for $6,600.00 to ICC #1 (Freedom is Dope from a Backyard Entertainment, LLC account.
During this entire period, Lucas pushed legislation to legalize marijuana sales, unsuccessfully until this year:
b. On January 22, 2021, Virginia SB 1406 "Marijuana; legalization of simple possession, penalties," sponsored by LILLIE LOUISE LUCAS (hereinafter LOUISE LUCAS) and another senator was advanced by the state Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee. This bill and its House of Delegates counterpart passed on February 5, 2021, and, following the amendment process, was signed by Governor Northam. The Senate version pressed for legalization to begin in July 2021. However, the House version delayed legislation until January 2024 (that would have included retail sales). The amended law signed by the Governor reached a compromise that legalized recreational use in July 2021, with scheduled retail sales to follow beginning in January 2024. A re-enactment clause required the Virginia legislature to re-approve the sales provision for it to take effect. Following a change in leadership in the House of Delegates in 2021, this re-enactment was not taken up by the legislature in 2022. Thus, commercial sales of marijuana remained illegal.
c. During the 2023 session of the General Assembly, all bills to begin recreational sales failed to pass with the split Republican run House of Delegates and the Democratic run State Senate. In 2024, following Democratics taking control of the state legislature in the 2023 elections, legislation was again introduced to begin recreational sales. Though the House and Senate passed a bill to allow recreational sales to commence on May 1, 2025, Governor Youngkin vetoed the bill on March 28, 2024. This process was repeated in 2025 with another passed bill and another veto. All of these efforts to create a retail market for marijuana involved the establishment of a licensing scheme for marijuana sales. These licenses were anticipated to be very valuable given the expected amount of revenue to be generated by marijuana sales. Though retail use was not authorized, applications could be made for a marijuana business license.
The indictment accuses Lucas of running a conspiracy to use her power in the state legislature to protect her criminal enterprise and to corrupt the legislative process to profit herself and her family:
4. The purposes of the enterprise included the following:
i. Obtaining and illegally distributing large quantities of illegal marijuana;
ii. Procuring "generational wealth" for, and enrichment of, members and associates of the enterprise;
iii. Using the proceeds from the distribution of illegal marijuana sales to obtain additional quantities of marijuana to continue and expand the enterprise's illegal marijuana business;
iv. Directing, obtaining, and influencing the provision of marijuana licenses to entities in which members and associates retained and expected to procure a financial interest.
V. Using the political influence of LOUISE LUCAS to enact legislation and regulations to financially benefit the Lucas Enterprise and to obtain recreational marijuana licenses for members and associates of the Lucas Enterprise.
An indictment is not a conviction; Lucas and her co-defendants are entitled to a legal presumption of innocence until prosecutors prove the case to a jury. However, if the DOJ has the evidence that they claim in this indictment, it paints a very corrupt and deeply stupid portrait of Louise "Ten F****n One" Lucas. One has to wonder how that escaped the attention of Democrats in Virginia for as long as it did.
