Calif. Deputy Police Chief Among Six Arrested in Drug Sting
FRESNO, Calif., March 27 (UPI) — A deputy police chief in Fresno, Calif., was among six people arrested Thursday in a federal drug-trafficking bust that involved the sale of heroin, marijuana and prescription narcotics, authorities said.
Fresno Deputy Police Chief Keith Foster was taken into custody and faces charges of conspiracy to distribute or possess with the intent to distribute, ABC 7 in San Francisco reported.
Authorities said Foster, 51, was arrested following a yearlong narcotics investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“This is a very sad day for the Fresno Police Department, the citizens of Fresno, and the law enforcement profession,” Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.
Foster became a deputy chief for the Fresno Police Department eight years ago. One of his duties, officials said, is to manage patrol officers and oversee each of the city’s police districts.
During a news conference Thursday, Dyer said this case serves as a reminder that no one is above the law.
“The message I want to send to everyone, when we place this badge on our chest, it’s a badge of honor. There’s a lot of responsibility that goes along with it,” he said. “It is important that we do everything we can to maintain and enhance the trust our citizens have in us. [So] when things of this nature happen, it doesn’t erode that trust.”
Police arrested others they believe were involved with Foster in dealing narcotics. They include Rafael Guzman, 41, Randy Flowers, 48, and Jennifer Donebedian, 35. Investigators say Guzman distributed the heroin, Flowers the oxycodone and Donebedian the marijuana.
Two others were also listed in a criminal complaint, named as Iran Dennis Foster and Sarah Ybarra — who are being charged with a marijuana offense and using a communications facility to commit a drug offense. Officials say the communications facility was a FedEx Office store that was used to ship a package of marijuana to New Mexico.
The Fresno Bee reported late Thursday that Iran Dennis Foster, known as Denny, and Ybarra had also been taken into custody.
Officials said a Fresno high school was placed on lockdown for about 20 minutes Thursday afternoon while authorities took one of the suspects into custody nearby.
According to the complaint, federal agents placed Keith Foster under visual and audio surveillance last November. In December, they said they overheard a phone conversation between him and Flowers discussing what they believed was the sale of oxycodone pills. A short time later, the complaint says, Keith Foster was observed at Flowers’ home by agents who believed he delivered about 100 oxycodone pills that he had picked up earlier from a local pharmacy.
Flowers has three prior drug-related convictions, in 1988, 1994 and 2010. Authorities believe Flowers and Denny Foster are related to the deputy police chief.
Investigators said agents also overheard communications between Keith Foster and Guzman, a convicted drug dealer, about selling heroin.
Dyer said he is personally acquainted with Foster’s family, and that the investigation is difficult to accept.
“Keith Foster is one of my best friends. And so it’s difficult for me, it’s extremely difficult for the family,” he said.
Dyer said the deputy chief has been placed on paid administrative leave and was required to turn over his police-issued firearm. All six who were arrested are expected to appear in federal court Friday.
Known in the Fresno community for decades and greatly respected by many, Keith Foster joined the police force in 1986 and is one of just five captains in the department. He is also one of just three of the force’s deputy chiefs. His arrest came as a shock to many residents, from neighborhoods to the top levels of local government.
“God almighty,” Fresno attorney and former county prosecutor Eric Green said. “This totally blows me away … What prompted him to do this?”
“I can’t find the words to respond to something I never would have expected,” said Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, who holds ultimate authority over the police department’s operations.
“Really and honestly I cannot imagine a bigger shock that all of us are experiencing tonight,” she told KSEE-TV.
In 2011, Foster addressed the Fresno City Council with regard to an ordinance that banned the cultivation of marijuana outdoors.
“Absent this ordinance, marijuana cultivation could occur in the city of Fresno without any specific regulation and pose a hazard to the citizens of this community,” Foster said at the time.
“Each pound of processed marijuana costs about $75 to be processed by a grower,” he added. “That same processed pound of marijuana can be sold in states within the country for an average of $5,000 to $6,000.
“So it generates considerable profit.”
