Former Healey aide facing cocaine charges now accused of SNAP fraud

A former aide to Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has been charged in federal court with SNAP fraud and wire fraud, accused of lying about his finances and household to collect food assistance.

Lamar Cook, 46, who was paid $130,227 a year as deputy director of Healey’s western Massachusetts office, was arrested Wednesday. He was fired in October 2025 after his arrest on state drug and gun charges, then received $22,374.29 in net pay for unused vacation.

Prosecutors say that when Cook applied for SNAP in April 2026, he reported no income, less than $100 in the bank and a household of only himself and a minor child. Court filings say his account actually held more than $8,800 that day, and he later received about $12,000 in Zelle payments from his mother, who won roughly $1 million in the Massachusetts Lottery earlier this year. He also allegedly failed to disclose that his fiancée, who earns more than $80,000 with Springfield Public Schools, and her mother were living with him.

Cook allegedly collected about $546 a month in benefits, used at Massachusetts stores and on a July trip to Florida, frequently by his fiancée, according to surveillance and transaction records.

USDA Inspector General John Walk called it an unconscionable betrayal of public trust for a former official under indictment to steal food aid meant for low-income Americans.