Ex-Fresno police deputy chief convicted of selling drugs gets transferred out of prison

Keith Foster, the former Fresno police deputy chief who was convicted of selling drugs, has been transferred out of federal prison, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

He remains in community confinement, a bureau official said Thursday.

Foster, 56, was transferred Friday out of a medium-security federal prison in Colorado (Federal Correctional Institution Florence), where he was in the midst of serving a four-year sentence.

He was placed in a home confinement or a residential reentry center (halfway house) overseen by the Bureau of Prisons’ Long Beach Residential Reentry Management Office.

“The Bureau of Prisons has transitioned Mr. Foster to the next phase of his sentence, residential re-entry,” said the former deputy chief’s attorney, Michael McKneely, in a statement.

“Mr. Foster has not asked the BOP or the Court for any special treatment and the timing of the transfer was determined by the BOP.”

Foster was convicted in November 2017 of conspiring to distribute marijuana and heroin.

In addition, a federal judge ruled that Foster obstructed justice and violated his position of trust.

Foster was second in command of the Fresno Police Department behind only then-chief Jerry Dyer when Foster was arrested in March 2015.

His projected release date from custody is June 8, 2021, according to the BOP official.

“Mr. Foster’s case is still in the appeals process as he continues to fight to clear his name,” McKneely said. “Mr. Foster also looks forward to discussing these and other matters at the appropriate time.”

This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 9:07 AM.