Ex-Healey staffer arraigned on cocaine trafficking, gun charges
SPRINGFIELD — A former aide to the governor was arraigned Wednesday on drug charges after police say he received a delivery of cocaine to the "little Statehouse" in Springfield over the weekend.
LaMar Cook, 45, the recently fired deputy director for the governor's regional office in Springfield, was arraigned on charges of drug trafficking, possession of a gun and ammunition without a license, and driving without a license.
He was held without the right to bail pending a dangerousness hearing set for Friday in Springfield District Court. Defense lawyer Kedar Ismail told reporters after the court proceeding that he will fight the charges.
"I'm looking forward to clearing his name," Ismail said.
Judge William Rota set a $25,000 bond in connection with the gun charge.
"You'll be our guest for a few days, Mr. Cook, but you'll have a full and complete hearing on Friday," Rota said.
Cook was arrested during a traffic stop late Tuesday night in Springfield. He appeared in court wearing a varsity-style jacket and handcuffs. He will be held at the Hampden County House of Correction.
An inquiry into Cook began with a similar delivery of cocaine to the Hotel UMass in Amherst on Oct. 10, another state building, law enforcement officials said. That delivery consisted of 13 kilograms, while the Springfield delivery was 8 kilograms.
LaMar Cook, former deputy director for the governor's regional office in Springfield, was arraigned at Hampden District Court on Wednesday morning on charges of cocaine trafficking after 8 kilos of the drug were delivered to him at the state building on Dwight Street on Saturday. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Cook became an aide to the governor in 2023. He previously served as director of the UMass hotel. He was fired this week, after the Governor's Office learned of his arrest.
Cook, co-founder of the Back to School Brighter Initiative in Springfield, is also a prominent member the community who served on the Springfield Community Preservation Committee.
In the late 1990s, he served as an intern for now-retired U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor.
Police records show Cook was in 2001 among a group of city residents arrested in connection with a gunfire incident that occurred near the city's Mason Square neighborhood.
A narrative says Cook was part of a group of men who rolled up in a car and emerged with handguns, shooting at another group of people standing on a front porch around 1 a.m.
Several rounds were fired, the report says, but only one man was hit. A bullet was lodged in the skin covering his stomach, according to police. Cook and two other men were charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, discharging a handgun within 500 feet of a dwelling and unlicensed possession of a firearm.
The disposition of that case is unknown.
In his most recent job as Healey's aide, Cook earned around $115,000 annually, according to state records.
LaMar Cook appears with his lawyer at Hampden District Court on Wednesday morning to face charges of cocaine trafficking after 8 kilos of the drug were delivered to him at the state building on Dwight Street on Saturday. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
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