Healey on arrest of aide: ‘I hope he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law’
CHICOPEE — Gov. Maura Healey described LaMar Cook, a former staffer in her Springfield office accused of cocaine trafficking, as a "lower level employee" who betrayed his community.
Cook, 45, served as the deputy director of Healey's regional office for Western Massachusetts after being appointed to the government relations position in 2023. He collected a salary of more than $115,000 a year.
At the end of October, prosecutors charged Cook with cocaine trafficking and illegal gun possession after they accused him of accepting a delivery of eight kilograms of cocaine sent to the state office building on Dwight Street in Springfield. When investigators searched his home, they discovered a gun in his bedroom, though he lacks a license to possess one.
LaMar Cook, former deputy director for Gov. Maura Healey's regional office in Springfield, is arraigned at Hampden County District Court on Oct. 29 on charges of cocaine trafficking. (Douglas Hook / The Republican, File)Douglas Hook
"What he did was a betrayal of his community and certainly a betrayal of trust," Healey said Monday, "and so I hope he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Cook has pleaded not guilty to the charges. A judge last week granted Cook a cash bail of $85,000, after a short period in which he was held as a danger to the community.
Healey spoke with reporters on Wednesday as she toured the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts to meet staff and thank volunteers.
The governor said she was limited in what she could say as the matter is still under criminal investigation. Prosecutors also have linked Cook to a deliveries of 23 additional kilograms of cocaine that arrived at Hotel UMass in Amherst, another state building where Cook previously worked as director of hospitality.
Healey said she was "extremely shocked by the allegations and extremely disappointed in this individual," a sentiment, she added, that was shared by other elected officials in the region.
The governor said she has made regional equity a priority of her administration, something she will continue to support.
"It is very important to me that the people of Springfield in that region have representation in our office," Healey said. "Mr. Cook was a lower-level employee, but we do want to be able to support that office with the right person who can represent the community. The community deserves that."
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