BOSTON — Lamar Cook, a former Massachusetts state official from Springfield, was set to be arraigned in federal court in Boston on a newly added wire fraud charge, the Fall River Reporter reported Sunday.

A federal grand jury added the count to a pending case accusing Cook, 46, of lying to obtain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits while he was free awaiting trial in a state drug and gun case, the outlet reported.

The new charge rests on the same food-aid application Cook filed April 6. According to the Fall River Reporter, the indictment says the online form went to a server in Virginia, and the state Department of Transitional Assistance sent his information that day to a company in Wisconsin. Prosecutors treat each transmission across state lines as a separate wire fraud count.

On that application, Cook reported no income, less than $100 in the bank and a household of only himself and his minor child, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said. Prosecutors allege he did not mention that his fiancée, who earns more than $80,000 a year from the Springfield public schools, and her mother were living in his home. Court filings show his account held about $13,000 in January and more than $8,800 in April, and prosecutors say his mother, who won about $1 million in the state lottery, sent him roughly $12,000 through Zelle in May and June.

Cook collected about $546 a month, and the benefits were spent at Massachusetts stores and on a July trip to Florida, prosecutors said. The Fall River Reporter said about $3,274 was spent from April to mid-October.

"The alleged conduct is simply egregious," U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said in a statement when Cook's arrest was announced in October.

Cook was appointed Western Massachusetts deputy director in 2023 by Gov. Maura Healey, the Fall River Reporter reported, and was fired in October 2025.

Each wire fraud count carries up to 20 years in prison. The charges are allegations, and Cook is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The Signal reported on Oct. 14 that Cook had been arrested on federal charges of SNAP fraud and wire fraud. Prosecutors said at the time that he was under indictment in Hampden County Superior Court on charges including trafficking more than 200 grams of cocaine, conspiracy and firearm offenses, and that the state had paid him $22,374.29 for accrued vacation after his firing and then failed to reverse the payment.

Earlier coverage: Former Massachusetts state official charged with SNAP fraud while awaiting drug and gun trial