82-year-old senator faces 11 federal charges

An 82-year-old senator is now facing 11 federal charges after being charged with racketeering and money laundering. Federal authorities charged Louise Lucas with racketeering and a money laundering conspiracy as part of a public corruption case involving a cannabis business she co-owns. The state senator and frequent critic of President Donald Trump is one of the most powerful Democrats in the state. She surrendered to authorities Thursday, a Justice Department spokesperson said. She and six others, including relatives, are in custody.

Lucas, 82, also was charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana. She said in a statement on social media that she will not be intimidated or back down. “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,” Lucas wrote. “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.”

Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to in Norfolk for a press conference announcing the charges. Blanche said Lucas put her own financial interests above the people she was elected to serve. “The Department of Justice intends to prove that Senator Lucas violated the trust of the people of Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Virginia, and of her state senate colleagues,” he said. “Her first duty should have been looking out for her constituents before herself.”

Blanche said the case is not politically motivated and invited Americans to read the indictment. “We don’t do political paybacks,” he said. The investigation into Lucas predates the Trump administration. But the Justice Department’s move, just 12 days before a midterm election, is unusual, as federal authorities have typically avoided taking overt investigative steps against political figures so close to an election. Lucas is not up for reelection this year, but has ties to prominent Democrats who are on the ballot. “The timing of this indictment undermines the U.S. Department of Justice’s previously longstanding policy of not taking legal actions, to include indictments or significant investigative steps, close to an election and sadly, this timing further erodes the trust the American people deserve to have in the Department of Justice,” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in a statement in part.

Spanberger said she read the charging document that outlines the allegations against Lucas. “In our American system of justice, people are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that is true for Senator L. Louise Lucas. She and her family deserve the opportunity to present their defense and speak to the allegations presented,” she said in her statement. NBC News has reached out to Senator Lucas’ office and her legal counsel for comment.