Politics
Former Healey deputy director detained at Springfield rail-car plant on federal fraud charges
LaMar Cook, a former aide to Gov. Maura Healey facing a state cocaine-trafficking case, was arrested Wednesday at a Springfield factory building MBTA trains after starting work there days earlier. Healey said she was “horrified” he had been hired.
LaMar Cook, a former deputy director in Gov. Maura Healey’s western Massachusetts office, was working at a Springfield rail-car factory when federal authorities arrested him Wednesday on allegations of fraud involving food assistance benefits, Healey said Friday.
Cook, 46, had started working at the facility the previous Monday, according to an employee there. The plant is operated by CRRC MA, the U.S. arm of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, which is manufacturing new Red Line cars for the MBTA.
“I was horrified,” Healey told reporters when asked about Cook’s employment. “I don’t know why a private employer would hire LaMar Cook after what he did. I fired him. I don’t think he should be hired by anybody.”
Cook was arrested in October 2025 while serving as Healey’s western Massachusetts deputy director. State Police say they intercepted a package containing nearly eight kilograms of cocaine that had been shipped to his office. He was later charged in the state case with cocaine trafficking.
The federal charges filed Wednesday accuse Cook of SNAP benefits fraud and wire fraud. A judge found probable cause and released him on personal recognizance. The federal arrest led a state judge to revoke his bail in the cocaine case the following day, according to court records.
A CRRC MA spokesperson did not respond to questions about Cook’s employment or whether the charges raised concerns. The MBTA also did not respond when asked whether it knew he was working at the site where its train cars were being built.
The factory’s work is part of a major MBTA procurement project already marked by delays. The agency said Thursday that 184 new Red Line cars still under construction in Springfield would not arrive by the latest contractual deadline of 2027 and could be delayed until after 2030. The contract, awarded in 2014, is now valued at about $1 billion. So far, 68 of the 252 ordered Red Line cars have been delivered.
CRRC delivered the final Orange Line cars promised under a separate order last December, after years of delays.