Nephew to convicted deputy police chief gets prison in drug case

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A nephew to former Fresno deputy police chief Keith Foster is headed to federal prison in connection to Foster's drug case.

Prosecutors actually dismissed all the drug charges in Randy Flowers' case. But Flowers will serve a 33-month sentence for since he's a convicted felon who was caught with four guns in his home during a raid targeting the deputy chief.

Randy Flowers walked out of the federal courthouse Monday, still a free man, but with an expiration date on his freedom. The beginning of the end came two years ago when the FBI raided his home right after his uncle left.

His uncle happens to be Keith Foster.

At the time, Foster was deputy police chief at the Fresno Police Department, but he was also the subject of a months-long investigation pointing to him as the center spoke in a conspiracy to deal heroin, marijuana, and oxycodone.

Investigators believed Flowers was the other end of the oxycodone conspiracy and they found evidence in his home leading them to believe Foster had just dropped off 98 pills and picked up $1,300 in cash. But prosecutors agreed to drop the drug charges after a judge sentenced Flowers to federal prison on gun charges.

"Randy, did you want to say anything?" an Action News reporter asked him as he left court. "Justice (has) been served," Flowers said.

He'll turn himself in to serve his sentence on August 28, despite getting in a little trouble for talking to a couple of the other defendants while he was out of custody.

A jury found Keith Foster guilty on two drug conspiracy charges in May, but couldn't reach a unanimous decision on the oxycodone charges and five others.

Prosecutors told Action News they're still deciding whether to put Foster back on trial for those six charges. He's already facing up to 25 years for his convictions.