SPRINGFIELD— Lamar Cook, a former aide to Gov. Maura Healey who was arrested last year on gun charges and accused of trafficking more than 8 kilograms of cocaine, now faces federal charges that he fraudulently collected more than $500 a month in food assistance.
Cook, 46, of Springfield, was arrested Wednesday morning on charges that he fraudulently obtained benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, while on pretrial release in his gun and drug case. He is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of SNAP fraud and was expected to appear in federal court in Boston on Wednesday.
Healey appointed Cook deputy director of the governor’s western Massachusetts office in Springfield in 2023. He was fired in October 2025 after his arrest at the Springfield State Office Building on the drug and gun charges.
Cook earned a yearly salary of $130,227 and was later paid $22,374.29 in net pay for accrued vacation leave following his termination, according to court documents. When state officials later “realized an error in paying Mr. Cook for accrued vacation leave time, the Commonwealth attempted to reverse the direct deposits, but it could not do so due to insufficient funds available in the accounts,” the documents state.
Cook’s bank account held about $13,000 in January and more than $8,800 in April, according to court filings. In May, he received a $2,497 federal and state tax refund tied to his 2025 employment in the governor’s office.
Cook’s mother won approximately $1 million in the Massachusetts Lottery at the start of the year, and allegedly made numerous Zelle payments to him totaling roughly $12,000 between May and June, according to the Department of Justice.
When Cook applied for SNAP benefits on April 6, he claimed he had no income, less than $100 in the bank and a two-person household made up of himself and his minor child, according to court documents. His account held more than $8,800 that day, and he received thousands of dollars in additional deposits afterward, according to the affidavit.
Prosecutors also allege Cook did not disclose that his fiancée and her mother lived with him at his Springfield home, or that his fiancée earned more than $80,000 a year working for Springfield Public Schools.
Cook received about $546 a month in SNAP benefits, which were used regularly at grocery and retail stores in Massachusetts and during a July trip to Florida, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Retail surveillance footage and transaction records show his fiancée frequently used his EBT card to make purchases for the household, though she was not listed as a household member on his application, according to the affidavit.
“The alleged conduct is simply egregious. SNAP benefits are intended to put food on the table for struggling families who cannot make ends meet, not for those who allegedly hide income to circumvent the financial requirements, much less travel to Disney World,” U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement. “What kind of system allows for someone like this defendant to receive taxpayer funded benefits? I find it disturbing that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts could not prevent this from happening, nor could it recover the ill-gained $22,000 payment for earned vacation time.”
Cook’s attorney, Kedar Ismail, declined to comment prior to his arraignment Wednesday afternoon.
The SNAP fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The wire fraud charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
