NEEDHAM, Mass. — A former Healey administration employee now charged with trafficking nearly 18 pounds of cocaine through the governor’s Springfield office also received a $31,000 payout after he was fired. The episode reflects a failure of basic management by Maura Healey.
LaMar Cook was hired as Western Massachusetts Deputy Director at a salary of $115,968.
According to a Boston Herald public records request, the governor’s office and State Police were aware of his criminal history before he was hired. That history includes a 2001 arrest in connection with a Springfield shooting, which the Springfield Republican reported involved two men allegedly firing at people on a porch.
State Police say they intercepted a package containing nearly eight kilograms of cocaine addressed to Cook’s office. He was indicted on five charges: trafficking in 200 grams or more of cocaine, conspiracy to violate drug laws, possession of a gun without a firearms identification card, possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
After Cook was fired, the administration paid him $31,000 for unused vacation time. The Executive Office of Administration and Finance says he was not entitled to the money because he was fired with cause, and the administration has called the payment a mistake. Cook has said he spent it, intends to keep it, and told reporters, “I earned it.”
A judge appointed by Healey also reduced Cook’s bail from $75,000 to $25,000, with conditions that he surrender his passport and not travel internationally. Cook then enrolled in SNAP, and the Department of Transitional Assistance says the state is prohibited from denying him benefits. He reportedly used them to help pay for a family trip to Walt Disney World and has said he plans to take more.
Maura Healey is responsible for who she hires and for every dollar her administration sends out the door. Healey’s administration hired someone with a violent history, lost $31,000 of taxpayer money to him after he was fired for cause, and has not recovered it.
From the press office of Mike Minogue.