MASON CITY — A Cerro Gordo County slammer dweller who battled law enforcement, drove drunk, tried to outrun police and escaped a Class B felony burglary conviction through a plea deal has paid nearly $28,000 for his mounting legal troubles—and he is not finished yet.
Keith James Ingersoll (pictured at top), 37, is back in the Cerro Gordo County Jail as he awaits sentencing for assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.
Ingersoll entered the jail at 4:45 PM on August 28, 2026. He is listed as serving a sentence without bond after a disastrous August court reckoning involving a sex-crime plea, drunk driving, eluding and a probation violation.
Sex crime followed by drunken police chase
Court records place the sexual-abuse-related offense on November 28, 2025, while Ingersoll was already on probation for assault, harassment and marijuana convictions.
Mason City Police filed a criminal complaint on January 3, 2026, charging Ingersoll with assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, an aggravated misdemeanor.
A statewide no-bond warrant was issued January 5. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff hauled Ingersoll into custody the following day, and the court imposed a no-contact order.
Ingersoll posted cash bond January 8 and walked out of jail to await further proceedings.
He initially pleaded not guilty and prepared for a jury trial. As the trial approached, however, Ingersoll changed his tune.
He submitted a written guilty plea on August 3. Judge Adam Sauer accepted the plea August 4 and scheduled sentencing for 9:45 AM on Wednesday, September 2.
The court’s online summary had not yet recorded a final disposition because sentencing remained pending.
The alleged sex crime was followed almost immediately by more criminal behavior.
Court records show Ingersoll drove drunk and eluded Mason City police on November 29—just one day after the sexual-abuse-related offense.
Prosecutors initially charged Ingersoll with second-offense OWI, an aggravated misdemeanor, along with serious-misdemeanor eluding.
Mason City Police filed the criminal complaints on January 15, 2026. A statewide warrant carrying a $3,000 cash bond was issued, and the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff arrested Ingersoll the next day.
Ingersoll posted cash bond January 20 and pleaded not guilty.
Once again, the scheduled jury trial never arrived. Ingersoll submitted negotiated guilty pleas on August 3.
Another charge knocked down
Ingersoll caught another break through plea negotiations when the State reduced his second-offense OWI charge to first-offense OWI.
He pleaded guilty to the reduced drunk-driving charge and to eluding as originally charged.
Sauer sentenced Ingersoll on August 4 to 365 days in jail for OWI but suspended 358 days, leaving only seven days to serve. Ingersoll was also fined $1,250 and placed on probation for one year.
The eluding conviction brought another 365-day jail sentence, but Sauer suspended 355 days, leaving 10 days to serve. Ingersoll received a $430 fine and another year of probation.
The available court summary does not indicate whether the seven- and 10-day jail terms run together or consecutively.
Ingersoll was assessed $1,068 in court costs, $1,680 in fines and a $252 surcharge in the OWI and eluding case. He has paid the entire $3,000.
Earlier battle with law enforcement
Ingersoll was already serving probation when he committed the November 2025 offenses.
That probation originated with a sprawling Mason City Police Department prosecution stemming from incidents on May 11 and May 12, 2024.
Authorities initially hit Ingersoll with nine charges.
Those accusations included two Class D felonies for allegedly possessing or controlling firearms as a domestic-abuse offender.
Police also accused Ingersoll of assaulting two people in protected occupations and causing bodily injuries, first-degree harassment, marijuana possession, trying to rip an officer’s radio away and interference with official acts causing bodily injury.
Ingersoll eventually admitted guilt to two aggravated-misdemeanor assaults causing bodily injury, first-degree harassment and first-offense marijuana possession.
The two assault convictions each involved a person working in an occupation given special protection under Iowa’s criminal law.
As part of the negotiated resolution, the court dismissed both felony firearm charges, the accusation that Ingersoll tried to remove an officer’s radio and the interference charge.
On May 13, 2025, Sauer imposed 365-day jail sentences for each assault conviction and the harassment conviction. He suspended 335 days from each sentence and placed Ingersoll on probation for two years.
The marijuana conviction brought a 30-day jail sentence, a $430 fine and another two years of probation.
New crimes sink probation
Ingersoll did not make it through probation without more trouble.
The Department of Correctional Services filed a probation-violation report in January 2026, shortly after his arrest in the sexual-abuse-related case.
A statewide bench warrant carrying a $5,000 cash bond was issued January 9. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff arrested Ingersoll on January 13, and he posted cash bond two days later.
The revocation proceeding dragged through months of continuances before Ingersoll entered a negotiated guilty plea to contempt on August 4.
Sauer ordered him to serve 45 days in jail and extended his probation for another year.
That punishment was imposed the same day Ingersoll was sentenced for drunk driving and eluding and had his guilty plea accepted in the sexual-abuse-related case.
Nearly $28,000 drained away
The accumulated cases also delivered a crushing financial blow.
In the assault, harassment and marijuana prosecution, Ingersoll was assessed $24,028.92 in court costs, $501.08 in fines and a $64.50 surcharge.
That case alone cost him $24,594.50. The entire amount has been paid, and the court’s financial summary lists no restitution.
The OWI and eluding convictions drained another $3,000 through costs, fines and surcharges.
When the earlier $260 trespassing fine is included, the cases reviewed have cost Ingersoll at least $27,854.50.
That figure could climb again when he is sentenced in the sexual-abuse-related case.
Burglary felony crumbled into $260 trespass
Ingersoll’s court history includes another remarkable escape from a potentially devastating conviction.
Mason City Police accused him of first-degree burglary following a September 25, 2022 incident.
First-degree burglary is a Class B felony. Authorities obtained a nationwide warrant carrying a massive $25,000 cash-only bond, and the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff arrested Ingersoll on October 4, 2022.
The court also imposed a no-contact order.
Ingersoll originally pleaded not guilty, and the case crawled toward trial through months of hearings and delays.
The serious burglary prosecution eventually crumbled into a negotiated first-offense trespass plea.
Ingersoll pleaded guilty to trespassing on June 16, 2023. Judge Gregg Rosenbladt imposed a $260 fine, although the no-contact order remained in effect for another year.
Ingersoll was not cleared by a jury and did not win an acquittal. He escaped the Class B felony burglary conviction when prosecutors agreed to knock the charge down to trespass.
His name also appeared in earlier NorthIowaToday.com coverage of Hancock County court proceedings, where he was listed with an 11-to-15-mph speeding conviction in 2016.
Ingersoll now remains locked inside the Cerro Gordo County Jail as his sentencing for assault with intent to commit sexual abuse approaches.