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Vernon Hills man's murder-for-hire trial delayed to September

The trial of a Vernon Hills man accused of hiring what he thought was a hitman to kill the mother of a woman he injured in a motorcycle crash has been postponed to September.

Jonathan Villasana, 24, of the 0-100 block of Timber Lane, remains held in Lake County jail on $1 million bond facing charges of solicitation of murder and solicitation of murder for hire. If found guilty of the most serious charge, he could be sentenced up to 40 years in prison, authorities said.

Attorneys for both sides agreed Wednesday to push back the trial date because of the ongoing investigation into the case.

Villasana was arrested on the solicitation charges at the Lake County courthouse in May after he was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 24 months of probation on a reckless driving conviction stemming from a 2012 motorcycle crash.

In that crash, Villasana was driving a motorcycle at a high speed with a female friend on the back when he lost control and hit a chain-link fence along Greenleaf Drive in Vernon Hills. The crash seriously injured his passenger, authorities said.

After being found guilty of reckless driving March 19, authorities say, Villasana asked a friend to find someone to kill the mother of the crash victim.

The unidentified friend went to police, authorities said, and an undercover officer met with Villasana on two occasions. Following the second meeting, Villasana agreed to pay the officer $5,000 to kill the victim's mother, officials said.

Villasana is due back in court July 30 for a status update.

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