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Kito Lockwood, a high school football coach in Long Island, was arrested this week in connection to an alleged drug trafficking ring.
Longwood had been a longtime coach at Malvern High School and was hit with multiple weapons charges after a raid that discovered guns, cocaine, crack, and fentanyl, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
The 49-year-old was charged with three counts of criminal possession of a firearm and three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. If found guilty, Lockwood faces seven years behind bars.
However, he was able to avoid any drug or conspiracy charges.
Lockwood pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer says that he was inadvertently caught up in the investigation, according to the New York Post. The lawyer says Lockwood was sleeping at a friend’s house and woke up to the police raid.
Long Island high school football coach Kito Lockwood charged in connection to drug trafficking ringhttps://t.co/DTCLk6UcN6
— News Tron (@mejo7600) September 15, 2023
“He went to watch a basketball game at a friend’s house,” the lawyer said. “He just happened to be in the house … He had a couple drinks, decided not to drive home, and then he woke up to a raid.”
Some of the parents of Lockwood’s players defended his character and said that they are waiting for more information and facts about the case.
One of the parents called Lockwood, who has coached at Malverne for 15 years, a “role model for our kids” and said they know “without a shadow of a doubt that Kito Lockwood is innocent.”
“The individual is an employee of the district, as well as a coach,” Malverne Superintendent Lorna Lewis said in a statement, via Newsday.
“We are aware of the allegations, and do not have any comment at this time.”
