Copyright The Boston Herald
Republicans running for governor are licking their chops in the wake of Gov. Maura Healey’s aide getting arrested in a massive cocaine bust. The GOP candidates are questioning what the Healey administration knew when the governor’s office hired LaMar Cook — who was the deputy director of the Western Mass. office until he was charged with trafficking pounds of cocaine. State Police last week intercepted about 18 pounds of cocaine on the way to the Springfield State Office Building, where Cook worked in the governor’s office. A trooper posed as a UPS driver to deliver the cocaine to the office. In the wake of this bombshell arrest, reports have emerged that this isn’t the first time that Cook has been arrested. Cook, 45, was previously busted in connection with a shooting in Springfield. Republican candidate for governor Brian Shortsleeve on Monday said the past shooting incident involving Cook raises questions about the Healey administration’s process for conducting background checks on employees. “What did Healey know, and when did she know it?” Shortsleeve asked in a statement. “The people deserve to know whether this criminal activity was utterly undetected or whether serious red flags were ignored or covered up.” Shortsleeve called on the Healey admin to release the full background check for Cook when he was hired. He also pushed for the governor’s office to release all the personnel file, performance reviews and incident logs for Cook since his hiring in 2023. “When I’m governor, the shell games will end and accountability will begin,” Shortsleeve said. “It is time for the Healey administration to stop delaying, to stop stonewalling, and to make public the relevant documentation so that Massachusetts voters can judge for themselves what was known, when it was known, and why it was ignored.” Another GOP candidate, Mike Kennealy, called for an independent investigation. “The entire Governor’s Office must be subject to an external investigation by a private, independent investigator,” Kennealy said in a statement. “Every personnel process should be reviewed, and every staff member interviewed to determine whether anyone else was complicit – who they are, what they knew, and how such a large-scale trafficking operation could possibly occur inside a government building, let alone within the Governor’s satellite office.” The gubernatorial candidate also has questions about the background check and hiring process for Cook. “We must examine the processes that allowed this individual to get a job inside the administration and the oversight failures that allowed this individual to conduct criminal activity while employed,” Kennealy said. “I fully support the ongoing efforts of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies,” he added. “Governor Healey must be held accountable for the culture of impunity she has fostered – one where her own employees felt emboldened to run a criminal enterprise on the taxpayers’ dime.” Mike Minogue, also running in the GOP gubernatorial race, pushed for an independent investigation as well. “Any time someone inside state government is arrested for something as serious as drug trafficking, the public deserves a full accounting,” Minogue said in a statement. “The Healey Administration shouldn’t be investigating itself. “An independent investigation is the only way to make sure Massachusetts families get the truth about what happened, who knew what, and whether this is part of a deeper problem,” he added. “It is clear that accountability does not exist in the current one-party system in Massachusetts.” The Herald reached out to the governor’s office on Monday. A spokesperson for Healey declined to comment “due to the ongoing criminal investigation.” Cook last week was deemed a danger to the community, and he was held without bail. Cook was charged with trafficking 200 grams or more of cocaine, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. In addition to the Springfield cocaine shipment, authorities said they had seized about 46 pounds of cocaine across separate shipments during the investigation into Cook. The first shipment is not part of the charges, though the Hampden DA’s office says it could result in additional charges. On Oct. 8, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations alerted Massachusetts authorities to packages seized in Louisville, Kentucky, stuffed with about 26 pounds of cocaine. The packages were destined for the UMass Hotel, specifically a guest named “Morgan Gordon,” who turned out to be fictitious. Authorities made a controlled delivery of the packages to the hotel and monitored for who received them, but the surveillance did not result in catching anyone. Mass State Police note in their report that Cook used to be the director of hospitality at this hotel.
