MURRAY, Ky. – The mule chase made him national headlines. The raccoon incident turned him into internet fodder. On Wednesday, “Cowboy Cody” was back in Calloway District Court – this time trading spectacle for signatures, pleading guilty in three mule-related misdemeanor cases. Now, with a summons served, the raccoon incident is chasing him in civil court.
Jonathan “Cody” Mason, 41, signed plea agreements that resolved cases pending since December 2024 and placed him under court-ordered conditions. Meanwhile, the Big Apple Grill and Bar employee bitten by the raccoon is suing Mason in Calloway Circuit Court, alleging negligence and seeking damages.
Calloway District Judge Randall Hutchens accepted the plea agreements and set strict terms for Mason to remain out of trouble. Those conditions include staying off the premises of the Big Apple – tied to both the mule and raccoon cases – and Tap 216, where he was first arrested with his mule.
The mule cases remained open even after Mason pleaded guilty in the raccoon case last summer. When Mason failed to appear for a hearing in August, Hutchens issued a bench warrant.
Deputies served the warrant at Mason’s home in December – on his birthday. He has remained incarcerated ever since.* On the same day, Mason was served with a civil summons in a lawsuit brought by Cody Martin over the raccoon incident.
Wednesday’s hearing, which lasted nearly 40 minutes, finalized the plea agreements in the mule cases. The first 30 minutes took place in the judge’s chambers. When court resumed, Hutchens returned to the bench and reviewed the terms of the agreements with Mason.
Originally, Mason faced 17 charges, but under the plea agreements, five of six alcohol intoxication counts, five of six disorderly conduct counts, criminal trespassing and one of the animal cruelty charges were dismissed.
He pleaded guilty to the remaining count each of alcohol intoxication and disorderly conduct, as well as resisting arrest in the initial case and fleeing or evading in the third. In the second case, Mason pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree cruelty to animals pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, meaning he did not admit guilt but acknowledged that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to convict him.
Hutchens sentenced Mason to 360 days in jail in each case, with fines totaling $1,775. He suspended all jail time and fines for two years under standard conditions in addition to barring him from the Big Apple and Tap 216. He also ordered Mason to pay $224 in court costs, giving him 90 days to make the payment.
Mason’s attorney Mitchell Ryan told The Sentinel he anticipates his client will be released in the coming days, possibly this weekend.* If Mason remains compliant with the judge’s conditions for two years, all of the criminal cases will be closed.
“He still has a lot of time hanging over his head,” Ryan said. “So, he’s got some incentive to act right.”
Prior to December 2024, Mason had no criminal record, but within hours of appearing in the annual Christmas parade with his mule, he faced six counts of alcohol intoxication, six counts of second-degree disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, third-degree criminal trespassing and, in a separate case, second-degree cruelty to animals.
Additional charges – and a third misdemeanor case – came two days later when, after posting bond, Mason attempted to retrieve the mule from the animal shelter. He was charged with third-degree fleeing or evading and an additional count of second-degree cruelty to animals.
In June, he was arrested a third time after he threw a live raccoon into the Big Apple during business hours. From a legal perspective, this case was different from the mule-related cases in that it involved a felony – second-degree assault – because a bar employee was bitten. Mason was also charged with two misdemeanors – resisting arrest and failure of owner to maintain required insurance – and a violation – third-degree criminal trespassing.
On July 9, Mason accepted an offer from Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney James Burkeen and pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and amended charges of second-degree wanton endangerment and second-degree criminal trespassing, all of which are misdemeanors. The insurance charge was dismissed after Mason provided proof of coverage.
Hutchens sentenced Mason to 360 days in jail with 60 to serve in the raccoon case. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the sentence was diverted pending successful completion of the program at Neartown Recovery, where he was enrolled at the time.
At a July 30 pretrial conference in the mule cases, Mason was not in the courtroom when his cases were called. Ryan told the judge Mason had come to the courthouse but left because he was not feeling well.
What happened next played out in a few pointed lines. When Assistant County Attorney Casey Naber referenced a proposed resolution, Hutchens cut in that there was no agreement in place.
“Judge, this case has been going on forever,” Naber said. “I’m trying to get it over with.”
“The Court is continuing the case without any input from the Commonwealth?” Burkeen asked.
“That’s right,” Hutchens replied, before moving on to the next case.
Naber later told The Sentinel that plea agreements in the misdemeanor cases had been negotiated and signed, but Hutchens wanted certain conditions met before he would accept them. After Mason failed to appear for court in August, Hutchens issued the warrant and ordered that he not be released on bond until he could be arraigned.
“I don’t really intend to change our offer at all. We’d like to resolve the case and have it be done with,” Naber said. “If the judge thinks he needs to serve time, depending on how long he stays away from being caught, then that might change some of that stuff.”
After deputies arrested Mason on the warrant, he appeared virtually from the Calloway County Detention Center on Dec. 16.
“Mr. Mason,” Hutchens said, looking into the camera. “I told you – I think more than once – that I felt it was in your best interest to get sober, get help to (stay) sober and to otherwise do what basically fundamental things I tell you to do; other than the treatment program, things that weren’t unreasonable. Now, maybe you think no alcohol is unreasonable, but with your history, I think it’s reasonable.”
Hutchens imposed the remainder of the 60-day sentence and held in abeyance whether to hold Mason in contempt for failing to appear in August and whether to impose the full 360-day sentence.
By accepting the plea agreements on Wednesday, Hutchens declined to hold Mason in contempt and did not impose the full 360-day sentence.
In addition to the criminal matters, Mason is also the subject of a civil lawsuit currently pending in Calloway Circuit Court. That case, filed in September, was brought by Martin, who is seeking compensatory damages on claims that, as a result of Mason’s negligence, he sustained an injury to his wrist, incurred medical expenses and endured pain and suffering associated with post-exposure rabies shots.
“Mason owed a duty to all members of this community, particularly the customers and patrons of The Big Apple, not to throw a live, wild raccoon into that establishment while it was open for business and occupied, placing occupants in the establishment in danger of injury from the wild animal,” the complaint states.
The complaint also claims that Mason’s conduct was malicious, carried out with indifference to the rights of others and subjective awareness that his conduct would likely result in bodily harm. As such, Martin is seeking punitive damages as well.
Mason’s civil summons in this case was served on the same day as the bench warrant. Kentucky law gives defendants in civil cases 20 days after the summons is served to file an answer to the complaint. If no answer is filed, the plaintiff can file a motion for default judgment. To date, Mason has not filed an answer. Although the 20-day deadline has passed, Martin’s attorney, Chris Hendricks, has yet to file a motion seeking default judgment.
Filings in civil lawsuits only represent one side’s interpretation of events.
* Update: As of 5:30 p.m., Mason is no longer listed as an inmate at the Calloway County Detention Center.
