Man in officer's death jailed for violations
William Allan Foster broke his vow to stay out of trouble. So Bucks County Court Judge David W. Heckler kept his pledge to send the career criminal away for a long time.
William Allan Foster broke his vow to stay out of trouble.
So Bucks County Court Judge David W. Heckler kept his pledge to send the career criminal away for a long time.
Heckler yesterday sentenced Foster, the accused killer of Philadelphia Police Sgt. Timothy Simpson, to at least five years in state prison for violating his probation on theft and drug offenses.
Foster, 41, of Levittown, had been wanted by probation and parole officials in Bucks County and New Jersey on Nov. 17, the night his speeding vehicle crashed into Simpson's police cruiser in the Juniata Park section of the city, killing the 20-year veteran. Foster awaits trial in Philadelphia on third-degree murder, vehicular-homicide, and other charges.
Heckler stressed that yesterday's hearing had nothing to do with the Simpson case. Rather, he said, he was punishing Foster for twice violating probation in Bucks County - first by stealing a plumber's tools in August, then by shoplifting razor blades in November. Foster pleaded guilty to both crimes last month.
Heckler had put Foster on 15 years of probation in August 2007 for a string of drug and tool-theft charges. At the time, Foster - who has a 23-year history of similar offenses - was still serving a state sentence in New Jersey.
According to a transcript of the 2007 hearing, Foster begged Heckler for leniency. He said he had gotten involved in drug-treatment programs for the first time and that his mother was ailing and might die soon. (She didn't.)
Heckler relented, but made the stakes clear.
"If you screw up . . . I'm going to put you in the state penitentiary for probably about five to 10 years," the judge told Foster at the time, "even if it's fairly minor."
At yesterday's hearing, Heckler read those words back to Foster, then sentenced him to five to 10 years in state prison.
"You went out and committed the same despicable behavior you had on the other cases," Heckler said. "I'm going to keep my word."
Afterward, Foster declined to comment on the sentence as sheriff's deputies led him away. Asked whether he had anything to say to Simpson's family, he said, "I wish I could trade my life for his. Even so, it was an accident."
Deputy public defender Kenneth Hone said he would appeal the sentence.
Hone had argued that the probation violations should not be addressed before Foster's murder trial. Foster, he said, could not testify in his own defense without risking its use against him in Philadelphia.
Hone also said that Heckler should have recused himself. Foster should be allowed to appear "before a judge who has not made statements prejudging the situation," Hone said after the hearing.
Heckler seemed just as determined to follow through on his 2007 pledge.
"Whether I am a fool rushing in or not will be decided by the appellate courts," the judge said.
Foster's role in Simpson's death has prompted Philadelphia officials to question why he was free at the time. Bucks officials have acknowledged making mistakes in handling his case.
Heckler has said a district judge erred by allowing Foster bail after his arrest in August, because he was wanted as a fugitive in New Jersey at the time.
County probation officials also have admitted making missteps - first by not noticing that Foster had been jailed in August, and later by not acting when Heckler ordered Foster detained in November after his shoplifting arrest.
"I'm disappointed," Heckler said last month, "that we let this fellow slip through our fingers when we had him."
