Austin man acquitted in second Mower County drug trial

By KAALTV

(ABC 6 News) – An Austin man was acquitted in his second Mower County drug trial Wednesday, Oct. 11.

Terry Izeal Heggs, 40, appeared in Mower County Court Oct. 9-11 on two charges of 3rd-degree narcotic sales dating back to June of 2021.

According to court records, Heggs was accused of selling 3.23 grams of methamphetamine and 0.73 gram of heroin to a police informant during a sting.

Mower County judge Kevin Siefken acquitted Heggs of both charges Wednesday.

Heggs is currently held at the MN Correctional Facility in St. Cloud, after being convicted of one count of predatory offender-fails to register and one count of violating a domestic abuse no-contact order dating back to March of this year.

At the beginning of the summer, Heggs was involved in 10 active Mower County court cases.

Several of the court cases have now been dismissed, or Heggs has been acquitted of the charges.

Heggs was previously acquitted of six charges from January of 2023, after Mower County judge Jeffrey M. Kritzer concluded that Mower County law enforcement failed to implicate Heggs in a bust at Austin restaurant Wing Bazaar beyond reasonable doubt.

The Mower County Attorney’s Office dismissed a drive-by shooting case in August, after a key witness failed to appear to testify.

The Mower County Attorney’s Office previously announced plans to fight Heggs’ acquittal of two other predatory offender–fails to register and DANCO violation dating back to November of 2022, according to county attorney Kristen Nelsen.

ABC 6 News reached out to Nelsen to see if the attorney’s office plans to fight the latest acquittal.

Heggs is scheduled to appear for a pretrial hearing Oct. 26 for two more cases — a single charge of 3rd-degree narcotic sales from July of 2021, and a charge of predatory offender failure to register from the same time period.