A July 25 and 26 jury trial has been set for a Keithsburg man accused of solicitation of murder for hire. The dates were set Monday in Mercer County Circuit Court. 48-year-old Kevin Hockenberry faces a Class X felony count, alleging he tried to pay someone $10,000 to kill former Mercer County State’s Attorney Meeghan Lee. A final pre-trial is scheduled for June 20.
Hockenberry has been in custody at the Mercer County Jail awaiting trial on a Class 3 felony of sexual relations within families. That charge is in connection with an alleged incident that occurred in April of 2019. He is also facing felony charges in two other cases including perjury and false reporting as well as two misdemeanor counts of violating an order of protection.
Bond on the solicitation of murder for hire charge is set at $500,000.