news, atlanta. we ll turn now to our ongoing series justice for all, and the controversial case of a texas woman sentenced to five years in prison for casting a vote in the 2016 presidential election while she was out on probation. i spoke to her as she awaits for a decision on her appeal. she saw it as a civic duty, crystal mason recalling the 2016 election and the vote that would change her life. i remember what my mom told me the night before and it was crystal, this is the last day. don t forget to go vote. reporter: but at the polling place, she learned her name was not on the roll and was told to fill out a provisional ballot. she said if you re at the right location, it will count. if you re not, it won t. reporter: but that sealed provisional ballot sealed her fate, landing her behind bars for illegal voting. because in 2012 mason had been convicted of tax fraud.
nbc s gabe gutierrez is there. it s so bright. reporter: the explosion was massive, tearing through a rural kentucky community about an hour south of lexington, the moment captured on this camera from nbc affiliate wlex. it was like an atomic bomb went off. reporter: the blast so powerful you could see it on radar. the fire ball sprung 300 feet into the air and was visible 40 miles. tonight, the fire is out but the debris is still smoelderring. 58-year-old lisa derringer was killed. we don t believe we have anybody else unaccounted for at this time. reporter: a ruptured 30 inch gas line caused the explosion. the pipeline cuts through much of the country all the way from texas to new york. it s owned by enbridge. in a written statement the company says we have isolated the affected line and are working closely with emergency responders to manage the situation. it sounded like a
she was sentenced to five years in federal prison and three years supervised release. so, you understood that if you re serving time you couldn t vote. yeah, i know that while you re incarcerated you couldn t vote. reporter: in exthe texas, fellens can vote after completing probation. but she was still on supervised release. she was sentenced to five years in state prison plus ten additional months on her federal sentence. would you have ever cast that ballot knowing it was illegal? i didn t get out and get a decent job, go to school, graduate from school to cast a ballot to leave my kids, my family again. a felon who comes in and votes when they re not legally allowed to vote, that s not really a prosecution you see very often. her supporters point to iowa where a woman was convicted of voting twice in the 2016 election and was