AUSTIN, Minn. – An Austin man was sentenced to 2-3/4 years in prison for stealing another man’s livelihood. Troy Arthur Leeper, 48, had pleaded guilty to a bargained-down charge of third-degree burglary. He had stolen $6,400 in tools from a house construction site 12 miles south of Austin in Lyle. About the theft, Leeper said he couldn’t remember when he stole the tools because he was always high on meth. Among items recovered at Leeper’s house:
> A generator.
> An air compressor.
> 1,000 inches of wire.
> A miter saw, a table saw and a chain saw.
> Two propane tanks.
> Two car batteries.
Leeper. Too much meth too often to remember much.