Weapons charges dropped against Malverne High School football coach Kito Lockwood

The Nassau County District Attorney’s office on Friday dropped its gun case against Malverne High School football Coach Kito Lockwood “in the interest of justice,” a spokesman for the office said.

The coach was swept up in a joint investigation started in October 2022 by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Long Island District Office Task Force and the Nassau prosecutor’s office, which netted 12 defendants on fentanyl and gun charges during a nine-month investigation covering Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The coach maintained that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and for the first time on Friday, the district attorney’s office publicly agreed with him.

“Based upon our continued investigation and information obtained after this defendant was indicted, we now believe that only one single individual had dominion and control over the firearms, that individual not being this defendant,” district attorney spokesman Brendan Brosh said. “As a result of this newly discovered information, we believe that dismissal is appropriate in the interest of justice.”

The coach of the Malverne Mules told authorities that he had been watching the NBA Finals and drinking at a friend’s house last June and decided to sleep on the couch instead of driving.

The next day he woke up to a police raid on the house in which investigators found guns and ammunition, according to Lockwood's lawyer, Fredrick Brewington.

“He had no idea why he was under arrest,” the attorney said. “And then they charged him with weapons charges that were not true. There were weapons in the house, but he had no idea that there were weapons in the house.”

A grand jury indicted Lockwood in September, but after a volley of motions outlining the flaws in the case, the district attorney dropped the case Friday.

“Their dismissal was because they could not prove their case,” Brewington said. “They cast too wide a net and were just trying to scoop up any potential targets as well as innocent people.”

For Lockwood, he said it had been a stressful second half of 2023 due to the charges hanging over him.

“I’m very relieved that it’s over with,” he told Newsday. “Now, I can move on and do the things that I would normally be doing without this weighted burden on my shoulders.”

He said one of the hardest parts of the ordeal was how the children he coaches could perceive the charges.

“I try to live a positive life and more than anything else I try not to be looked upon as a hypocrite,” he said.

“In my line of business, we like to practice what we preach when you’re working with young kids at a vital time in their lives,” he said.

Lockwood declined to comment on the initial decision to prosecute him, saying: “My grandmother advised a long time ago that if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything.”

One bright light that Lockwood said helped carry him through the ordeal was the backing of the Malverne Union Free School District, which allowed him to maintain his position throughout his court case.

“I have to say that is the most rewarding part, knowing that I had such a high level of support and belief in me that helped me to continue to do what I’ve been doing,” he said.

District Superintendent Lorna Lewis said that officials, parents and students always believed Lockwood’s version of events.

“He’s given many opportunities to our young men and women,” she said. “And we wanted to extend him the same grace that he’s extended to our children.”

The football team, which finished their season a respectable 7-3, lost many seniors this year, but Lewis said that she’s confident that Lockwood would be able to build it back.

“We’re the mules. We’re stubborn as mules and when we believe something, we stick with it,” she said.

CORRECTION: The subject of the photo at the top of a previous version of this story was misidentified.