Former Gregg County DA Indicted on Drug Charge

LONGVIEW — A former Gregg County district attorney has been indicted on a drug charge about a year after his arrest. KETK and the Longview News-Journal Robert Riter “Rob” Foster, 70, was indicted on a charge of possession of a controlled substance by a grand jury that was convened Feb. 24 and 25. The indictment comes a year almost to the day after Foster was arrested Feb. 24, 2015, by Longview police on charges of possession of a controlled substance, driving while intoxicated and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

According to documents related to Foster’s arrest, police found him after his vehicle became stuck in the median in the 3000 block of North Eastman Road. Police reported Foster was “spinning out in the mud.” An officer wrote in a probable cause affidavit for Foster’s arrest, “I got out of my patrol car, and Foster got out of his truck. Foster was not able to stand up or walk straightt. Foster had a glass full of an unknown liquid. I could smell an alcohol odor coming from the glass.”

After conducting field sobriety tests, police searched Foster. “Officers located a small plastic bag which contained a rolled up bill and a white powdery substance,” the affidavit said. “Foster’s phone and wallet was also covered in the white powdery substance. Officers utilized a field test kit to positively identify the substance as cocaine.” Police said they found two open alcohol containers in the truck and a loaded .38-caliber revolver in the center console.

Foster served as Gregg County district attorney during the early 1980s before going into private practice.He graduated from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1976. A member of the State Bar of Texas, Foster was a recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Award in 1982.