Deferred Adjudication For Former DA Rob Foster

LONGVIEW – Visiting State District Judge Paul Banner has given a former Gregg County district attorney deferred adjudication in his drug possession trial. The sentence was handed down after former D.A. Rob Foster, 70, entered a guilty plea this morning. Foster was arrested in February of last year on charges of driving while intoxicated, unlawfully carrying a weapon and possession of between 4 and 200 grams of a controlled substance. He was indicted by the grand jury in February. With deferred adjudication, a judge puts off a finding of guilt to see if a person can successfully comply with the terms of probation. It is referred to as a “second chance” for first-time offenders to keep their record clear of any final convictions.

As a part of his sentencing, the court has ordered Foster to attend AA meetings, 4 every month for a year. He is also ordered to stay out of any bar, tavern, lounge or similar place that sells alcoholic beverages. And that he is not to possess or consume alcoholic beverages and unlawful controlled substances or dangerous drugs without a prescription.

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 straight. 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.