Virginia state senator L Louise Lucas, one of the state’s most powerful Democrats, was charged on Thursday in connection with what federal authorities alleged was a role leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds.An indictment unsealed on Thursday charged Lucas and six other defendants, including several of her relatives, the Department of Justice said in a statement. Lucas surrendered on Thursday, a justice department spokesperson said.The charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering, came after the FBI searched Lucas’s home town office and a cannabis shop in which she has a stake in May.

At the time of the search, Lucas – who has been a vocal critic of Republican Donald Trump’s administration – characterized it as an attempt to intimidate her.“This is the circus we always expected it to be, and we will wait for further details to have a more specific response,” Brian Woolfolk, chief counsel for the L Louise Lucas Legal Defense Fund, told the Associated Press on Thursday.The brash 82-year-old lawmaker has spent decades ascending the ranks of Virginia politics and has served since 1992 in the state senate, where she is the president pro tempore, overseeing the chamber in the lieutenant governor’s absence. More significantly, she leads the powerful senate finance committee, through which all legislation with any budget impact must flow.

She’s used the position to stop and ultimately kill legislation she opposes.Kash Patel, the FBI director, said in a statement that the charges alleged: “Lucas and a close-knit group of family members and associates orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their own criminal marijuana enterprise, ‘the Lucas Enterprise’ – using Lucas’ position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves.“No one is above the law”, the statement said, “and this FBI will continue to follow the facts with our Justice Department and ensure those responsible for criminal conduct are held accountable.”Lucas has been a leading voice in Democrats’ ultimately failed attempt to redistrict the state’s congressional map this year, a bid to hedge against Republican efforts in other states to redraw maps for their advantage in the midterm elections.A forceful advocate of legalizing marijuana, Lucas partnered in opening the shop, The Cannabis Outlet, in 2021, selling hemp and CBD products. While marijuana is legal to possess in Virginia, recreational retail sales of the drug are not yet under way, though shops across the state do sell other cannabis-derived products.Lucas also runs a network of companies that provide residential, transportation and other services to adults with intellectual disabilities.