Judge gives suspect pretrial release to include substance abuse treatment

LITTLE ROCK — One of 33 people indicted after a recent drug investigation focused on White County was ordered Friday during a bond hearing to be released to in-patient substance abuse treatment.

Felicia Jean Mason, 35, of Judsonia appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Harris via video conference from the White County jail.

Harris also ordered that once Mason is released from in-patient treatment, she must live in a chemical-free facility.

According to an arrest warrant filed in federal court Wednesday, Mason was arrested March 11 in Little Rock after being indicted earlier this month by a federal grand jury on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, she faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison.

Mason is to be released April 7 to enter in-patient substance abuse treatment at the Northeast Arkansas Regional Recovery Center in Jonesboro, the earliest date that pre-trial services could confirm a bed would be available.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Fields did not object to the terms of Mason’s release.

“The U.S. is prepared to agree to her release to rehab if the court determines that to be appropriate,” Fields said.

In many cases of pre-trial release, defendants are ordered to have no contact with any co-defendants, a requirement that Harris acknowledged could complicate Mason’s release.

“I know you’re married to one of the defendants in this case,” Harris said.

Mason’s husband, Rickey C. Jones, 34, under two federal indictments charging him with being a felon in possession of firearms, is also being held in the White County jail.

Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe ordered Jones detained pending the resolution of charges the state has against him. Once the charges are resolved, Volpe said, attorney James Winnfield Wyatt could request a bond hearing for Jones.

Neither Fields nor Blake Hendrix, Mason’s attorney, had any objections to Mason being allowed to see Jones.