By Steve Neavling

A Texas man has been sentenced to 90 months in federal prison after he pointed a shotgun at DEA agents who were trying to serve a search warrant at his home in Bandera County in 2016. 

Agents shot Luther Otis Foster IV after he leveled the shotgun at them and threatened to shoot. He has since recovered. 

During the raid, agents found a large number of marijuana plants. 

“Pointing a weapon at or threatening a federal agent is never a wise choice,” U.S. Attorney Sofer said in a statement. “It is fortunate that no one lost their life in this incident.  Unfortunately, today in Florida, a similar scenario ended in heartbreaking tragedy.  We should never forget the dangers our law enforcement officers face every day.”

Foster pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and four counts of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon in November 2018. 

The sentencing comes on the same week that five FBI agents were shot while serving a search warrant at a home in Florida. Two of the agents have died. On Thursday, a U.S. Marshals deputy was critically wounded during a gunfight in Baltimore while they were trying to execute a search warrant.

The DEA’s Omaha Division has a new leader. 

Justin C. King has been named special agent in charge of the division, which oversees 11 offices in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska North Dakota, and the western parts of Illinois and Wisconsin.

King replaces Richard Salter Jr., who retired from the DEA in January.

“I understand and appreciate the concerns our Midwestern communities face as we contend with the threats posed by methamphetamine, counterfeit pills, opioids and other dangerous drugs on a daily basis,” King said in a statement. “I look forward to advancing the good work our investigators are performing across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and making a positive impact in our cities and rural communities.”

King’s career with the DEA began 19 years ago, when he joined the Laredo, Texas, District Office. In 2006, he was added to the DEA’s Foreign-Deployed Advisory Support Team (FAST), where he served until 2009. As a member of FAST, King participated in counter narcotics operations during three deployments to Afghanistan and one to Central America.    

In 20019, King transferred to the Oklahoma City District Office and served as a special agent and group supervisor of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force through 2014. King returned to the FAST program in August 2014 as a team leader, guiding his group on the final DEA FAST deployment to Afghanistan, in addition to training deployments in the Ukraine and Paraguay. 

In 2017, King was promoted to section chief and was tasked with the enforcement and training deployments of four FAST teams and the DEA Personal Recovery Unit. He served as executive assistant to the special agent in charge of the DEA’s Office of Training from April 2017 to January 2018.

King served three years as assistant special agent in charge of the Little Rock District Office, where he was responsible for all DEA activities in the state of Arkansas.

A native of Oklahoma, King is a veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry Branch.