The former aide to Gov. Maura Healey charged with a slew of gun and drug trafficking crimes while out on bail took a Walt Disney World vacation at least partially funded by taxpayers.
LaMar Cook is receiving SNAP benefits, according to information sent to the Herald and confirmed by the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA), and is spending his taxpayer-funded EBT card at supermarkets just steps outside Walt Disney World Resort in Kissimmee, Florida.
“Eligibility rules for SNAP are controlled by the federal government. Under federal regulations, DTA is prohibited from barring someone with pending criminal charges from SNAP eligibility,” a DTA spokesperson told the Herald when asked why Cook, with his list of serious criminal charges, is allowed to be spending his EBT card over one thousand miles out of state.
“SNAP is 100% federally funded. These are federal dollars,” the spokesperson added.
The SNAP benefits are the latest slew of cash that Cook, or those close to him, have received from the state since he was arrested on numerous drug and gun charges in October related to a major cocaine trafficking ring allegedly run right out of the governor’s Western Massachusetts office in Springfield.
Cook’s first cash windfall from the state came immediately after he was fired by the Healey administration following his arrest. The Herald was first to report in January that Healey’s office had “mistakenly” provided Cook with a $31,000 contract buyout — something that, as an employee fired for cause over serious criminal charges, he was not entitled to.
“Look, I’m really upset about that. That was a mistake, it’s unacceptable, and every effort is being done to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Healey told reporters in the days following the news of the payout.
“What’s important is that we have in place the right guardrails, the right measures to make sure this doesn’t happen again. I can tell you this was a mistake. It goes back to absolutely unacceptable conduct by an individual who was employed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and what was done there, as I’ve said before, was a huge betrayal of public trust,” she said.
The state has not reallocated that money as Cook has already spent it.
Then, after being released on a reduced $25,000 bail in March, down from the original $75,000 bail, Cook caught another lucky break through the mother of his slain brother.
Ten days after Cook was released on bail, Sabrinna Marshall won $1 million on a new state lottery ticket game, becoming the game’s first-ever million-dollar prize winner, the Massachusetts State Lottery says. She opted for the one-time payment of $650,000 before taxes.
“She plans to help family and make home improvements with the winnings. She purchased her winning ticket at Big Y, 441 North Main St. in East Longmeadow. The store receives a $10,000 bonus for its sale of this ticket,” MassLottery said in a press release announcing the winnings. “The ‘$10,000,000 Cashword’ instant ticket includes seven more instant prizes of $1 million.”
Marshall is the mother of Cook’s late biological brother Chauncy Marshall, 31, who was killed in a shooting at a Springfield nightclub in 2017, according to media reports. Chauncy had been shot in the stomach, succumbing to his injuries in the hospital days later. Another man, Warren Payne Jr., 27, died at the scene. The suspect was acquitted after claiming self-defense, stating that Marshall and Payne were trying to rob him.
It is unclear whether Sabrinna Marshall is Cook’s biological mother, or if Cook and Chauncy Marshall shared only the same father.
While recent rule changes surrounding SNAP spending have allowed for the use of EBT cards out of state, Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve has called for an end to that practice.
Cook was serving as Healey’s Western Massachusetts deputy director when State Police arrested him after they say they intercepted a package containing nearly eight kilograms, or about 18 pounds, of cocaine shipped to his office. He was originally ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing following his arraignment at Springfield District Court.
His case was elevated to the Superior Court level following his indictment Feb. 12 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.
Healey immediately fired Cook upon his arrest, calling the allegations against him “a major breach of public trust” and “unacceptable.”
Cook’s attorney Kedar Ismail declined a Herald request for comment on Cook’s SNAP benefits or his trip to Florida, but did not deny that his client is receiving benefits.
