From Staff Reports

BIRMINGHAM-A Birmingham man and former federal fugitive was sentenced to four years and nine months in federal prison for dealing heroin, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Clay A. Morris announced on Oct. 28.

Patropius Foster, 35, pleaded guilty in July to of one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin in Jefferson County between October 2012 and May 2013, two counts of distributing heroin on March 19, 2013 and April 17, 2013 and two counts of using a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking on March 19, 2013.

Foster was among 49 people indicted in 2013 as part of an ongoing initiative between law enforcement and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to attack the supply side of the heroin problem in north Alabama. Foster was a fugitive from September 2013 until April 2014, when he was arrested in Atlanta.

Numerous Alabama law enforcement agencies worked with the DEA in the lengthly investigation leading to the 2013 indictments and arrests, including the Hoover Police Department, the Pelham Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.

Of the 49 individuals indicted in the 2013 sweep, 40 have pled guilty and one was convicted at trial. Foster was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney L. James Weil Jr.