‘Affluenza’ teen, mom nabbed in Mexico

The Jalisco state prosecutor’s office told ABC News in a statement that the Couches were captured at the intersection of Argentina and Colombia streets in Puerto Vallarta, a few blocks from the beach. USA authorities said the Texas teenager serving probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck after invoking an “affluenza” defense, was in custody in Mexico, weeks after he and his mother disappeared.

Couch’s defense team, which included psychologist Dr. G. Dick Miller, argued that the teen suffered from “affluenza”, meaning his irresponsible behavior and lifestyle were a product of his affluent upbringing and “profoundly dysfunctional” parents.

After pleading guilty to manslaughter and intoxication assault in June 2013, he was facing up to 10 years in jail, but that sentence was suspended under probation.

Before fleeing the U.S., Couch was in the news again recently after a video surfaced showing him violating his drug-and-alcohol-free probation verdict by drinking at a party.

Couch disappeared as authorities investigated whether he had violated the terms of his probation.

There was no immediate comment Monday night from the U.S. Marshals Service, which had issued a wanted poster promising a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to Couch’s whereabouts and capture.

“To be honest, we are going to breathe a lot easier when they’re back in this country”, said Anderson.

This Dec. 28, 2015 photo released by Mexico’s Jalisco state…

This indicated to investigators that Couch’s disappearance “was carefully planned and timed to get out of the country”. “They even had something that was nearly akin to a going-away party before leaving town”, Anderson said.

“We do not anticipate being able to do so unless and until he arrives in the United States”, said Scott Brown and William Reagan Wynn.

“Until we have more information concerning this situation, it would not be prudent for us to make any further public statement”, he said.

After the pair’s capture Monday in the Pacific resort town of Puerto Vallarta, prosecutors said Tuesday they are unsure of the extent to which they may be punished – owing to the complexities of the juvenile and adult court systems in Texas that officials now find themselves navigating.

Couch failed to show up for a check-in with his probation officer.

Mr Anderson noted that Ethan Couch’s hair was “markedly different”.

Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said that Tonya Couch is expected to face charges of hindering apprehension which could carry a sentence of between two and 10 years behind bars.

If the judge declines to transfer Couch to adult court, Wilson will ask that his probation be revoked, in which case he could be held in a juvenile facility until his sentence expires when he turns 19 next April.

If Couch were transferred into the adult system, he could face 120 days in jail for not meeting with his probation officer as required.

The U.S. Marshals Service tracked Couch down using electronic surveillance, including tracking a cellphone believed to be linked to him, an official briefed on the investigation told CNN.

In the fatal accident, Couch, then 16, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level of almost three times the legal limit when he lost control of his pickup truck and fatally struck a stranded motorist on the side of the road and three people who had stopped to help.

Sheriff Anderson said: “I’d like for him to be accountable”. “The parents seem to have a completely hands-off approach”.

Schmall reported from Fort Worth, Texas.

“We were told by USA authorities that he’s a young person who doesn’t measure the consequences of his acts and that’s why he acted the way he did in the United States”, Ramirez said. “Affluenza” has been a theory in sociological and psychological circles since the late 1990s to explain the impact of indulgent parenting, where the combination of affluence and indulgence creates a sense of invincibility and lack of accountability in the child, said Daniel Medwed, a criminal law professor at Northeastern University in Boston.