Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey is under fire for approving a substantial payout to a senior aide who faces charges related to cocaine trafficking, funded by taxpayer money.

As she prepares for re-election, Governor Healey granted LaMar Cook a sum of $31,439 under the buyout clause of his contract. This was in addition to his base salary of $98,789, despite his arrest in October.

Cook, 45, was dismissed from his position following a police operation that intercepted a package containing 18 pounds of cocaine, intended for Healey’s Springfield office.

Following public outcry, Healey’s office backtracked on the payout, citing it as an error and asserting they are actively working to recover the funds, amidst criticism for compensating someone facing such serious allegations.

“Taxpayer dollars should not be allocated to anyone involved in such flagrant criminal conduct. This payment was mistakenly issued,” her office clarified in a statement released on Tuesday.

According to comments made to the Boston Herald, Cook was notified last month that he must return the funds, though he has yet to comply. The Governor’s Office is preparing to initiate legal action against the former aide in the coming week.

The Democrat’s gubernatorial opponents were quick to fire criticism at Healey, who has been in the position since 2022.

GOP candidate Brian Shortsleeve told The Herald he wants an investigation into her office to determine how such an error was made.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey faces backlash after using taxpayer money to give an aide arrested for cocaine trafficking a $31,000 buyout

Healey awarded LaMar Cook $31,439 as part of the buyout clause in his contract

‘The public deserves to know who authorized this payment, why it was approved, and what safeguards, if any, exist inside her administration,’ he lamented. 

‘We already know Healey was aware of Cook’s prior gun charges, including an arrest connected to a drive-by shooting, because they were part of his background check. And yet, he was still hired. What else did they know? Who approved this payout?’

Fellow Republican candidate, Mike Kennealy, said it was just a ‘pattern’ of problems seen by Healey. 

‘The Healey Administration continues to demonstrate a lack of competence and accountability. An administration that can’t manage basic hiring, oversight, and payroll procedures cannot be trusted to run state government,’ he told The Herald.  

The Daily Mail has contacted the governor’s office and Cook’s lawyer Kedar Ismail for comment. 

Authorities began investigating Cook on October 10 after they seized two suspicious packages containing 13 kilograms – or nearly 29 pounds – of cocaine at Hotel UMass in Amherst, where Cook served as director for nearly seven years.

Sixteen days later, Massachusetts State Police intercepted the eight kilograms – or nearly 18 pounds – package at the state building in Springfield.

A trooper then posed as a delivery worker to hand over the parcel to Cook, whom police say was at the building waiting for the drugs.

Cook was arrested in October on cocaine trafficking charges after accepting a package of 18 pounds of the drug at Healey’s Springfield office 

He is now facing charges of cocaine trafficking, as well as charges for carrying a gun and ammunition without a license and driving without a license.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges in Springfield District Court. 

After his arrest, he lost his position as deputy director of the governor’s Western Massachusetts office. 

‘The criminal investigation is ongoing and our administration will work with law enforcement to assist them in their work,’ spokeswoman Karissa Hand said at the time.  

Cook was appointed to serve under Healey in 2023, when the governor praised him and Kristen Elechko, the director of the Springfield office, as ‘two proven leaders with deep ties to Western Mass.

‘They know the communities, they know the businesses, they know the needs and opportunities of the region,’ Healey said at the time, according to the Boston Globe.

Cook had made a name for himself in the Springfield community by serving on the Springfield Community Preservation Committee and as the cofounder of the Back to School Brighter Initiative, which provides children in the city with free haircuts, backpacks and school supplies.

He also ran for Springfield City Council and the local school board.

Her office later rolled back on the payment, saying it was made in error and that they had ‘taken action to get it back’ after constituents ridiculed the decision to give an alleged criminal money

Cook has had other legal troubles in the past.

In 2001, he was one of several residents arrested in connection with a gunfire incident that occurred near the city’s Mason Square neighborhood, MassLive reports.

He reportedly was part of a group that rolled up in a car with handguns, shooting at another group of people standing on a front porch at around 1am.

Several rounds were fired, but only one man was hit.

Cook and two others were then charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, discharging a handgun within 500 feet of a dwelling and unlicensed possession of a firearm.