Austin man involved in multiple court cases sentenced, moved to state prison

By KAALTV

(ABC 6 News) – An Austin man involved in several pending court cases was sentenced to 36 months at the MN Correctional Facility in St. Cloud, and moved there Friday, Sept. 1.

Terry Izeal Heggs, 40, was 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.

He received credit for 153 days spent at the Mower County Jail, where he had been held since March.

Recently, the Mower County Attorney’s Office dismissed a 2021 drive-by shooting case involving Heggs.

On Aug. 25, the state dismissed charges of drive-by shooting toward an individual and violent felon in possession of a firearm, after the alleged victim absconded from supervised release.

Heggs was scheduled to stand trial on the charges Aug. 28, but without the key material witness, the trial could not go forward, according to court documents.

According to County Attorney Kristen Nelsen, the state reserves the right to pursue the case against Heggs in the future, if and when the witness is re-arrested.

Heggs was previously acquitted of six charges related to an alleged drug bust at an Austin restaurant–a decision the Mower County Attorney’s Office intends to fight.

Heggs has six more pending cases in Mower County Court.

He is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 25 on three more 2021 cases — two relating to alleged drug sales, and one charge of predatory offender failure to register address.

Heggs is scheduled to stand trial in October in two more 2023 cases, where he is accused of violating a domestic abuse no-contact order.

Additionally, Heggs faces one charge each of predatory offender failure to register address, and domestic assault dating to November 2022. There is no scheduled hearing for those charges.