Ex-governor’s aide charged with cocaine distribution to have bail hearing
SPRINGFIELD — LaMar Cook , the former aide to Gov. Maura T. Healey who was charged with drug trafficking in October after 8 kilos of cocaine were delivered to him at the state building on Dwight Street, will be back in court Thursday morning.
Cook, 45, and attorney Kedar Ismail filed this week with Hampden Superior Court to argue against the existing $75,000 bail for the drug charges and $10,000 bail for firearms charges.
Cook's job in the Healey administration was to act as a liaison with communities here in Western Massachusetts and help organize Healey and Lt. Gov. Kimberly Driscoll's visits to the region.
He was well-known in Springfield. He helped found the Back to School Brighter Initiative, which among other things helped kids get haircuts, and was also a member of the Springfield Community Preservation Committee. He launched failed bids for Springfield City Council in 2015 and for School Committee two years later.
Ismail did not respond Wednesday to call or text messages.
Police also seized drugs delivered to the hotel where Cook had once worked at the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. All together, they captured 31 kilos, or 68 pounds, of cocaine.
The Hampden District Attorney's Office confirmed that the hearing is still set for Thursday morning.
Cook remains in custody at the Hampden House of Correction in Ludlow.
Other woes
Meanwhile, Cook also faces new trouble with the state. The Governor's Office said a state payment was made to him in error, and it is attempting to get the money back.
Massachusetts paid Cook $31,438 to buy back untaken vacation and leave days after his arrest.
The Boston Herald reported the payment, which was on top of Cook's $98,000 salary. He was paid $113,399 in 2024 and $70,511 in 2023, all according to state payroll records.
The vacation time was accrued during Cook's time with both the governor's office and at Hotel UMass, where he worked previously and where he had cocaine shipped to its loading dock with a fictitious person's name on the label.
Last month, Cook was informed of the erroneous payout, and that he is required to repay it immediately.
The sum has not been repaid at this time, a state spokesperson said Wednesday. The sum has not been repaid at this time, a state spokesperson said Wednesday. The state Attorney General's Office sued Cook Wednesday afternoon in Suffolk Superior Court to recover the amount erroneously paid him in November.
"Taxpayer dollars should never go to an individual who engaged in this type of outrageous criminal activity," spokesperson Matt Murphy, of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, said in a statement. "This payment was erroneously made, and we have taken action to get it back."
Cook has faced debt collections before.
Court records in Springfield, also first reported by the Herald , show that Cook was ordered in small claims court to pay $2,500 to a creditor called Portfolio Recovery. That ruling was Oct. 23, just five days before Cook was arrested.
A year earlier in June 2024, a Springfield District Court judge ordered Cook to pay Capital One $5,900 to settle an outstanding debt.
Stories by Jim Kinney
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