Man faces criminal vehicular homicide charge

A jury trial is still scheduled for May for a Hartland man charged in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash in December in Albert Lea.

Leslie David Jones, 51, faces charges of criminal vehicular homicide and not having a Minnesota driver’s license in a Dec. 16 crash on East Main Street near McDonald’s that killed Joanne Carol Klein, 66, of Albert Lea.

A settlement conference was held Thursday in Freeborn County District Court, but the case was not resolved.

The jury trial is scheduled for May 24.

Jones entered provisional not guilty pleas to the two charges in December.

He was arrested the day after the crash at Motor Inn’s detail shop. Officers reportedly found a pickup matching the description of the suspected vehicle.

Jones was reportedly carrying a jacket that officers recognized from surveillance video as having been worn by the driver of the truck and was reportedly shaking and crying.

If convicted of criminal vehicular homicide, Jones faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. If convicted of not having a Minnesota driver’s license, he faces a maximum sentence of 90 days imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.