Frankie Cordeira Jr.

Description: Cop Claims 'Deep Undercover' When Busted Drug Trafficking... Fresnos former deputy Police Chief Keith Foster was working as an undercover investigator when he was recorded on a wiretap talking about buying marijuana his attorney told jurors during opening statements Wednesday in Fosters federal drug trafficking trial. Prosecutors contend the wiretaps caught Foster talking with co-defendant Rafael Guzman about buying heroin and talking about selling oxycondone to his nephew Randy Flowers. But defense lawyer E. Marshall Hodgkins told jurors in U.S. District Court that police Chief Jerry Dyer directed Foster to find out whether heroin was causing problems in the city of Fresno. To satisfy Dyers order Foster went undercover by talking with Guzman a known drug dealer who Foster had befriended in order to turn him into a confidential informant Hodgkins said. Foster wasnt selling oxycodone to Flowers Hodgkins said noting that both men had prescriptions for the narcotic. In fact Dyer knew Foster was taking oxycodone to relieve pain from gout he told the jury of eight women and four men. But a May 2015 FBI lab report says tests on Fosters blood and urine revealed oxycodone was not detected in the samples. place_quote1 On the first day of the trial Hodgkins was adamant that Foster the former No. 2 man in the Fresno Police Department and Dyers apparent heir was innocent of the charges that led to his resignation in April 2015. Hodgkins accused FBI and ATF agents of doing a poor investigation saying they went after Foster solely because hes a big fish. During a break Hodgkins said Foster was deep undercover since Dyer apparently didnt know about Fosters plan to make marijuana and heroin busts. But he said Foster had the expertise to do them since he had done hundreds of undercover operations in his nearly 30 years of stellar service on the Fresno police force. Foster and Dyer as well as other Fresno police officers will testify on Fosters behalf he said. Keith Foster isnt guilty of anything Hodgkins told the jury. Hes not the kind of person who would do this. Assistant U.S. attorneys Melanie Alsworth and Duce Rice however told the jury that the evidence will prove that Foster was a key participant in three conspiracies to peddle heroin oyxcodone and marijuana. They asked the jury to convict him of felony charges that could result in at least 25 years in prison and stiff fines. The trial in Judge Anthony Ishiis courtroom is high stakes because Foster 53 rejected a plea agreement that would have resulted in 46 months or nearly four years in prison. Fosters two nephews Denny Foster and Flowers and Jennifer Donabedian Sarah Ybarra Rafael Guzman Jr. and Ricky Reynolds have accepted plea deals. But only Denny Foster has agreed to testify against Keith Foster. Fosters arrest shocked the city because Dyer has claimed he knew nothing about his second-in-commands alleged criminal activity even though they were longtime friends and their offices at police headquarters were close to each other. place_fact1 In front of a packed courtroom the two sides gave their versions of the evidence. After Alsworth stood calmly by a lectern in the center of the courtroom to give the prosecutions opening statement Hodgkins paced back and forth in front of the jury box pleading with them to listen to all of the evidence before judging Foster. An indictment charges Foster with conspiring with Flowers to distribute oxycodone. He also is charged with four separate counts to distribute or possess with the intent to distribute oxycodone. Foster also is charged with conspiring with Guzman to distribute heroin and conspiring with Ricky Reynolds Jennifer Donabedian Ybarra and Denny Foster to distribute marijuana. In addition Foster is charged with using a cellphone in furtherance of drug trafficking. In a key stipulation Hodgkins and the prosecution have agreed to the authenticity and admissibility of the wiretaps on Keith and Denny Fosters cell phones and Flowers cell phones as well as the text messages on them. Hodgkins said he agreed to the stipulation because the recordings will show that Foster was just doing his job as a police officer. Alsworth however said it was clear from the evidence that Foster is guilty as charged. She then gave this account of Fosters arrest on March 26 2015 after a four-month investigation: After Foster picked up his prescription for 100 oxycodone pills he arranged to go to Flowers home which was under surveillance. The next day Foster returned to Flowers home near Church and Hughes avenues in southwest Fresno with 100 oxycodone pills Alsworth told the jury. As Foster drove away from the residence a traffic stop was conducted. Foster was arrested federal agents searched his car and found $1300 in cash (all in $100 bills) and a prescription bottle with his name on it that contained two oxycodone pills. At Fosters home agents found $9000 in cash and empty oxycodone prescription bottles in a safe. Flowers also was arrested and his home was searched. Agents found 98 oxycodone pills about $10200 in cash (all in $100 bills) and guns. The pills found in Flowers home matched the pills found in Fosters car Alsworth told the jury. Combined they totaled 100 pills. Hodgkins agreed that Flowers is a drug dealer but noted that federal agents actually found 195 oxycodone pills in Flowers home. And just because the pills have the same markings that does not prove that the pills came from Keith Foster Hodgkins said. place_fact2 Though the prosecution implied that the money seized from Foster was from drug sales Hodgkins said Foster was going through a messy divorce and was going to get a $1300 cashiers check to pay his ex-wife. Hodgkins also said Fresno police Sgt. John Jensen loaned Foster the money found in the safe to help Foster pay his bills from the divorce. Hodgkins said Jensen who is independently wealthy because his family owns mineral rights in North Dakota will testify on Fosters behalf. But thats not the only time Foster sold pills to Flowers Alsworth told the jury. He did it in December 2014 and in January and February 2015. Each time Foster would pick up 100 pills from the pharmacy call Flowers or send him a text message and then go to Flowers home Alsworth said. In one wiretap Foster told Flowers: Hey Bulldog you gave me $240 in $20s. Foster then drove back to collect more money Alsworth said. But Hodgkins told the jury that Foster and Flowers werent talking about payment for drugs. Foster had earlier given Flowers about $300 to purchase clothing but Flowers had only repaid $240 of what he owed Foster. Both sides stipulated that Dr. Diego Allende and Dr. Patrick Golden had signed prescriptions so Foster could obtain 100 oxycodone pills on each of the following dates: Dec. 23 2014; Jan. 27 2015; Feb. 25 2015; and March 25 2015. Another stipulation said federal agents obtained blood and urine samples from Keith Foster to check for oxycodone. In another wiretap Alsworth said Foster talked to Denny Foster about buying marijuana for his boy. To hide his intentions Alsworth said Foster doesnt say marijuana but uses the word units. Hodgkins said federal agents never found out who Foster was referring to when he said his boy. In court Hodgkins revealed for the first time that Foster was referring to his friend Fresno police narcotics Detective Brannon Kirkland. Hodgkins said Kirkland who now works for a law enforcement agency in Southern California will testify on Fosters behalf. According to Hodgkins Denny Foster has been dealing drugs for more than 20 years but he also worked on the side as a confidential informant either to make money or to get out of trouble. Hodgkins said federal agents began to investigate Denny Foster in April 2014 on weapons allegations. One day a man went to Denny Fosters home and came out with marijuana. Federal agents talked to the man but did not arrest him because he had a medical marijuana card. But the incident prompted federal agents to check Denny Fosters finances. They learned he had $103000 in one bank account and $75000 in another yet on government assistance forms he had said he was unemployed with zero income Hodgkins told the jury. This prompted federal agents to wiretap Denny Fosters cell phone Hodgkins said. The focus of the investigation changed when Keith Foster began calling his nephew. Foster however was calling his nephew to see if he could work as an informant to help Kirkland make a big drug bust Hodgkins said. He works for money Hodgkins said of Denny Foster. He would turn in his mother to get out of a situation. But Hodgkins also said Denny Foster cant be trusted to tell the truth on the witness stand because he holds a grudge against Keith Foster. In August 2002 Denny Fosters brother Eric Foster was killed by a Fresno police officer. While Eric Fosters family protested and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Keith Foster on orders from Dyer declined to stand with his family Hodgkins said. The lawsuit was later dismissed. According to Hodgkins Denny Foster told relatives that as long as it takes I will get Keith for not sticking up for the family. This would not be the first time Keith Foster and Kirkland worked undercover without Dyers knowledge. After Fosters resignation The Bee learned that Foster and Kirkland testified before a state medical board in support of a local doctor known for writing medical marijuana prescriptions. That testimony occurred without Dyers knowledge. Both Foster and Kirkland testified they were patients of the doctor Diego Allende. Hodgkins said it was Dyers directive to Keith Foster that led him to investigate heroin in the city. Hodgkins said Foster first asked police detectives about whether the city had a drug problem but they told him no. He then turned to Guzman who had been arrested by the Clovis Police Department on drug charges. Alsworth said a wiretap recorded Foster talking to Guzman in December 2014 about wanting to buy heroin. When Guzman asked Foster what quality of heroin he wanted to purchase Foster said the very best according to Alsworth. And when Guzman began to go into detail about what kind of heroin Foster told him not to do it over the phone Alsworth told the jury. But Hodgkins said Foster was trying to get Guzman to become an informant and lead him to the dealers who sell the best heroin so police could make a bust. Foster never achieved his goal because of his arrest. But Fosters intuition was realized in February when Fresno police made a big bust taking 2 pounds of heroin off the streets Hodgkins said.
By Frankie Cordeira Jr.
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