10/15/2026
SNAP Scandal Hits Healey’s Own Former Staff
Former Healey Administration official charged with SNAP fraud as Massachusetts struggles with highest payment error rate in New England.
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance today responded to federal SNAP fraud and wire fraud charges against Lamar Cook, Governor Maura Healey’s former Western Massachusetts Deputy Director, saying the charges highlight growing concerns over accountability and program integrity within Massachusetts’ SNAP system.
“Massachusetts’ SNAP problems have gotten so bad under Governor Healey that now one of her own former staffers is accused of defrauding the program,” said Paul Diego Craney, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “The Healey administration has repeatedly downplayed concerns about SNAP accountability, but this should be a wake-up call. When federal prosecutors are charging a former member of the Governor’s own administration with allegedly lying to collect taxpayer funded benefits, it becomes a lot harder to pretend there isn’t a problem.”
According to federal prosecutors, Cook allegedly lied about his income and household composition while receiving approximately $546 per month in SNAP benefits. Authorities allege the benefits were regularly used in Massachusetts and during a July trip to Florida.
Cook previously made headlines when he was in vacationing in Florida and defending the use of welfare benefits.
The Healey administration claims it accidently gave a severance package to Cook worth $30,000 after he was fired.
The charges come as Massachusetts is already facing serious questions about the administration of SNAP. Research released by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation reported Massachusetts has a 12.49 percent SNAP payment error rate, the highest in New England, with nearly $1.4 billion in benefits improperly paid over four fiscal years. The federal government’s recent reforms could also leave Massachusetts taxpayers responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars if the state fails to bring its error rate under control.
“Governor Healey cannot continue to run on problems; she must solve them. The buck needs to stop with someone and Governor Healey owns this mess. Its way past time her administration learns how to confront problems and advocate for the taxpayers,” said Craney.
