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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cEligibility 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,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSNAP is 100% federally funded. These are federal dollars,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Western Massachusetts office in Springfield.<\/p>\n
Cook\u2019s 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\u2019s office had \u201cmistakenly\u201d provided Cook with a $31,000 contract buyout<\/a> \u2014 something that, as an employee fired for cause over serious criminal charges, he was not entitled to.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I\u2019m really upset about that. That was a mistake, it\u2019s unacceptable, and every effort is being done to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen again,\u201d Healey told reporters<\/a> in the days following the news of the payout.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s important is that we have in place the right guardrails, the right measures to make sure this doesn\u2019t 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\u2019ve said before, was a huge betrayal of public trust,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The state has not reallocated that money as Cook has already spent it.<\/p>\n Then, after being released on a reduced $25,000 bail<\/a> in March, down from the original $75,000 bail, Cook caught another lucky break through the mother of his slain brother.<\/p>\n Ten days after Cook was released on bail, Sabrinna Marshall won $1 million<\/a> on a new state lottery ticket game, becoming the game\u2019s first-ever million-dollar prize winner, the Massachusetts State Lottery says. She opted for the one-time payment of $650,000 before taxes.<\/p>\n \u201cShe 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,\u201d MassLottery said in a press release<\/a> announcing the winnings. \u201cThe \u2018$10,000,000 Cashword\u2019 instant ticket includes seven more instant prizes of $1 million.\u201d<\/p>\n Marshall is the mother of Cook\u2019s late biological brother Chauncy Marshall, 31, who was killed in a shooting at a Springfield nightclub in 2017, according to media reports<\/a>. 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<\/a> after claiming self-defense, stating that Marshall and Payne were trying to rob him.<\/p>\n It is unclear whether Sabrinna Marshall is Cook\u2019s biological mother, or if Cook and Chauncy Marshall shared only the same father.<\/p>\n Cook was serving as Healey\u2019s Western Massachusetts deputy director when State Police arrested him<\/a> after they say\u00a0they 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.<\/p>\n