Portsmouth voters elected Lisa Lucas-Burke back to City Council while she faces five federal charges in an alleged criminal enterprise involving her mother, Virginia state Senator L. Louise Lucas. The victory returns a former council member to local government with a racketeering conspiracy case pending. A final felony conviction could trigger forfeiture of her office under Virginia law, which includes a requirement concerning the expiration of appeal rights.
The November 3rd election also returned incumbents Vernon Tillage Jr. and Bill Moody to the council. Lucas-Burke entered the election as a former member seeking to regain a seat on the governing body. Her mother is among the seven defendants named in the federal case, which involves allegations surrounding the family’s cannabis businesses and the use of political influence to benefit those operations.
Lucas-Burke’s charges include racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and conspiracy to launder money. She also faces conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and maintaining a drug-involved premises. The indictment assigns her Counts One through Five of the eight-count case.
As WTKR reported, Lucas-Burke won her return to the council despite the pending prosecution. The Justice Department announced the case on October 22nd, less than two weeks before Election Day. Prosecutors say she and her mother opened The Cannabis Outlet in Portsmouth in 2021. Federal agents searched that business and The CBD Shoppe on May 6th, recovering marijuana and firearms at both locations.
The federal indictment describes Lucas-Burke as an employee of Lucas Lodge who conducted business for that company and The Cannabis Outlet. It also names her sister, Theresa Lucas-Lamb, and Lucas-Lamb’s son, Ryan Eichelberger. According to the charging document, Lucas-Lamb previously managed The Cannabis Outlet before her mother forced her out in fall 2024. Eichelberger then replaced her as manager after working with her on the store’s daily operations.
Prosecutors allege that Louise Lucas directed an enterprise that acquired and distributed at least 100 kilograms of marijuana and laundered the proceeds. They also accuse her of using her Senate position to shield the operation from scrutiny and influence legislation benefiting it. Lucas chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, which handles the state budget and tax policy. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos said, “Public office is a position of trust and should never be abused for personal gain.”
Watch the announcement of Lucas-Burke’s city council run here:
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Virginia’s office-forfeiture statute sets out the potential consequence for an officeholder convicted of a felony. Section 24.2-231 applies to people holding public offices of honor, profit or trust in the Commonwealth. Its language requires a felony conviction and the expiration of all rights of appeal under Virginia law before the final conviction results in forfeiture. The indictment alone doesn’t meet those conditions.
The statute also addresses whether an official can continue serving under an election or appointment after forfeiture. Once its conditions are met, the official loses the office and cannot continue acting under that previous authorization. It separately specifies that a later pardon doesn’t undo that consequence: “A pardon which may be afterwards granted him shall not void the forfeiture.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.