Jan. 16—Former McAlester Football Coach Forrest Mazey entered into a plea agreement for misdemeanor charges stemming from a July 2024 incident with a firearm.
Records show Mazey was charged in McCurtain County District Court in November 2024 with misdemeanor counts of pointing a weapon at another and reckless conduct with a firearm.
A Dec. 27, 2024, plea agreement states Mazey entered an Alford Plea on the two misdemeanor counts.
According to Cornell Law, an Alford Plea “registers a formal admission of guilt towards charges in criminal court while the defendant simultaneously expresses their innocence toward those same charges.”
Records show McCurtain County Special District Judge Laurie Blevins accepted the plea and deferred sentencing against Mazey for 90-days until March 26, 2025.
Along with the deferred sentence, Mazey was also ordered to pay $844.25 in fines and court costs and is to be supervised by the District 17 District Attorney’s Office for the entirety of the sentence, according to the agreement.
In a probable cause affidavit prepared by McCurtain County Sheriff Department Investigator Sgt. James Revada, the investigator wrote it was reported to the District 17 District Attorney’s Office that an athletic coach from McAlester allegedly pointed a firearm at another coach on July 18.
“The coaches were visiting a cabin in Hochatown during a retreat with other coaches from the school,” the affidavit states.
According to the affidavit, the victim said after coaches arrived at the cabin, he was relaxing in the hot tub talking with other coaches in the room when Mazey “walked into the pool house holding a handgun.”
The victim told investigators Mazey pointed the firearm at his chest “thinking it was funny” with the victim saying he began to move slowly out of the way “to not be in the path of the barrel in case there was an accidental discharge,” the report states.
“Mazey walked out of the pool house and shortly after, they heard a single shot come from the outside of the pool house,” Revada wrote in his report.
Another coach told investigators he witnessed Mazey “aim a loaded firearm at his fellow employee” and made jokes about how scared the victim looked before Mazey left the pool house and fired the weapon, the affidavit states
According to the report, the witness provided investigators with a diagram as to where all of the parties were seated, where Mazey entered the room and where he stood when he pointed the firearm, and the direction Mazey went when the firearm was discharged.
The witness also said Mazey was in his line of sight when the firearm was discharged “which made the event even more sinister because Mazey did not chamber a round before firing,” the affidavit states.
Mazey resigned from his position with McAlester Public Schools in December as part of a settlement agreement with the school district. Terms included a $40,000 lump sum payment and an agreement to never work for MPS again.