The daughter of a prominent El Dorado couple pleaded no contest Monday in a New Mexico court to a pair of felonies related to a foiled poisoning plot against her ex-husband.
In a plea deal negotiated between Lara Mason's attorney, Ryan Villa, and New Mexico prosecutors, Mason entered no contest pleas to charges of solicitation to commit trafficking and solicitation to commit auto burglary.
Charges of solicitation to commit first-degree murder and evidence tampering were dropped as part of the plea agreement, Villa said.
A sentencing date has not been set. Mason could face up to 41/2 years in prison.
Villa said he felt like the plea deal was in the best interest of his client and that "we are looking forward to the sentencing so that all the facts and circumstances can finally be heard."
Without elaborating, Villa said "there are some things" in the court documents related to his client's case that "are just not true."
Kayla Anderson, a spokesman for the 2nd Judicial District attorney's office in Albuquerque, N.M., said the plea deal came about after "carefully reviewing the available evidence in this case."
Anderson added: "Our office determined it was best to proceed with the charges included in the plea. A plea agreement ensures the defendant will be held accountable and cannot appeal the conviction. Furthermore, the state does not risk losing the case at trial. We hope this plea agreement brings some measure of justice for the victim and the citizens of Bernalillo County."
Mason was initially arrested in June 2013 after authorities said a plot to kill her ex-husband, Casey Quintana of Albuquerque, N.M., was exposed by his adult son, Coty.
An arrest warrant affidavit accuses Mason of first planning to plant cocaine in a water bottle inside Casey Quintana's vehicle in hopes that he would ingest it, fail a drug test and lose the custody fight over their young daughter.
The document said she later decided to poison Quintana with ricin instead.
Ricin is a deadly poison derived from castor beans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ricin works by infiltrating the cells of a person's body and preventing the cells from making needed proteins. The poison can cause serious illness or death whether it is inhaled, ingested or injected.
"She [Mason] advised that it only takes a small amount, two or three granules, to kill an adult," the affidavit states.
"Ms. Mason goes into detail about how she will make the ricin in her home state of Arkansas, in the front yard ... she describes boiling the skin off the castor beans using acetone, coffee grinder, strainer and a paper towel."
Coty Quintana initially found out about Mason's plan through a series of text messages, according to the affidavit, which also notes that she had promised him "everything" in terms of inheritance after his father died.
Casey Quintana told authorities he had an "estranged relationship" with his son, the affidavit said. However, the affidavit states that Coty Quintana intervened before the poisoning plot could be carried out by telling his father about it after "discovering the seriousness" of it.
After Coty Quintana told his father about the conversations he had with Mason, Casey Quintana met with Albuquerque police and showed them the text messages between his son and Mason, the court documents said. An undercover officer then met with Mason, posing as someone who would plant the drugs for her, the documents state.
During that meeting, Mason decided to move forward with "plan B," telling the undercover officer that she would make ricin and give it to him to put in a water bottle inside her ex-husband's vehicle, the court documents state.
Mason, 47, grew up in El Dorado and graduated from high school there in 1986. She is the daughter of Richard and Vertis Mason, who are best known for spearheading the revitalization of downtown El Dorado in the 1980s and 1990s, buying and renovating buildings surrounding the Union County Courthouse.
The Masons own energy and consulting firms in El Dorado and operate an upscale boutique hotel, Union Square Guest Quarters, along with several bed-and-breakfasts in the city. Vertis Mason served two terms on the El Dorado City Council until a 2010 defeat.
State Desk on 12/16/2014