Why Was Valerie Mason Arrested? New Details On The Former 'Girls Next Door' Star And Playboy Playmate Who Was Busted For Meth
How the once-mighty have fallen.
Flickr She was once one of the most beautiful women in the world, with every opportunity available to her. As a cast member on the hit reality show, "The Girls Next Door," she had access to the Hollywood elite and a cadre of adoring men at her feet. Yet, as these things are often wont to do, she blew her opportunities on drugs, and now, she's paying the price for her indulgences. Why was Valerie Mason arrested?
Here’s what we know about the rise — and fall — of this once-ravishing beauty.
1. She and her companions were initially pulled over for a faulty brake light.
According to the official police report released by the West Monroe, Louisiana police department, Valerie Mason was traveling with two other people when she was pulled over for a faulty brake light. The driver of the car, Steven Munholland, couldn’t provide his driver’s license, so the police asked him to step outside of the car, wherein the car was subjected to a search. The search uncovered meth paraphernalia; Valerie Mason was found with meth in her possession. Following these discoveries, everyone in the car was arrested.
2. Valerie Mason was once the Playmate of the Month for the September 2008 issue of Playboy Magazine.
According to The Sun, who dubbed her a “Playboy legend,” the 31-year-old former Playmate was the Playmate of the Month for the September 2008 issue of Playboy Magazine. The Louisiana native had no prior modeling experience before becoming the Playmate of the Month. Rather, all she’d done was mail a few photos in to the late Hugh Hefner. (Remember when times were a lot easier?) The year after she’d appeared in Playboy Magazine, she became a recurring cast member of the hit reality show, The Girls Next Door. Yet, she hasn’t done much in the entertainment industry since that time.
3. She’s now looking at a felony charge.
According to The New York Daily News, Valerie Mason is looking down the barrel of some serious charges. If convicted of what she’s accused of, she’ll go from “Playboy legend” to “convicted felon.”
“Mason and the two others were arrested and charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, a schedule II felony, at the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office,” they wrote.
A Schedule II felony in Louisiana is a serious charge. According to Louisiana Revised Statutes Tit. 40, § 967, anyone who commits a Schedule II felony “shall be sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor for not less than ten years nor more than thirty years, at least ten years of which shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, and in addition may be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than five hundred thousand dollars.”
Yikes!
4. Valerie Mason was released on bail.
Even though she spent a few nights in jail, she was released on Saturday night after posting $3,000 in bail money, according to the New York Post. It’s unclear what will happen next in her case, but we will definitely keep you posted of any developments as they come along.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. For more information about Bernadette Giacomazzo, click here.