‘Affluenza’ teen allowed to stay in Mexico for now
Mom who helped son flee deported to U.S.
The Texas teen known for his “affluenza” defense after he was given probation for killing four people in a drunkendriving crash in 2013 will stay in Mexico for at least three more days, an official with the U.S. Marshals Service said Wednesday.
The woman who helped Ethan Couch flee to the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta — his mother, Tonya — was deported Wednesday evening, a Mexican official told the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the case. She and her Mexican guards will land in Los Angeles.
Couch and his mother were apprehended Monday in Puerto Vallarta. They were reportedly traced to an apartment after using a phone to order a pizza. A lawyer they retained in Mexico filed paperwork Wednesday to try to fight extradition to the USA, according to the Tarrant County sheriff and district attorney.
An official with Mexico’s Migration Institute said Ethan Couch was granted a three-day court injunction, according to the Associated Press.
Ethan Couch probably will be able to stay in Mexico for longer than the next three days because of the holidays, Richard Hunter, chief deputy U.S. Marshal for the southern district of Texas, said Wednesday at a news conference.
The Mexican judge’s ruling could lead to a weeks-long legal process if a judge decides Ethan Couch has grounds to challenge his deportation based on arguments that kicking him out of Mexico would violate his rights. The judge has three days to consider Couch’s appeal.
Couch is in Mexican custody in Guadalajara in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
Couch had been missing officially since Dec. 10 when he failed to show up for a mandatory meeting with his probation officer. Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tuesday that he believed that Couch, 18, fled in late November with his mother after a video surfaced showing him at a party that included alcohol. The consumption of alcohol would be a violation of the terms of his probation.
Tonya Couch could face two to 10 years in prison on charges of hindering prosecution.
The case in 2013 gained worldwide notoriety when Ethan’s lawyers claimed their client suffered from “affluenza” after his well-todo parents shielded him from the consequences of his actions.