“Affluenza” Teen Ethan Couch Reportedly Detained In Mexico

US 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 was on juvenile probation for the wreck that killed four people when he was 16.

The search for Couch reignited discussion of his light sentence two years ago.

Anderson said his department is working with the U.S. Marshals Service and Mexican authorities to get the teen and his mother back to U.S. soil.

Speeding on a dark country road outside Burleson, a suburb of Fort Worth, he plowed a pickup truck into four pedestrians, killing all of them, and hit two vehicles before his truck flipped over. “They even had something that was nearly akin to a going-away party before leaving town”, Mr Anderson said. This has angered many people as they feel justice was not served in this case.

During the sentencing phase of his trial, Couch’s attorneys relied on a defense expert who argued that Couch’s wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility – a condition the expert termed “affluenza”. The condition is not recognised as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association and its invocation drew ridicule.

“We have now had an arrest warrant issued for Tonya Couch for hindering an apprehension”, the sheriff said. It was not clear how long they had been in Mexico. He and Anderson declined to say how authorities tracked Couch down.

Sheriff Anderson said last week that the passports for Couch and his mother had been reported missing by the teen’s father, who has cooperated with investigators. “They didn’t resist arrest”.

They were found in a dowdy section of Puerto Vallarta’s old town, far from the glitzy resorts, golf courses and high-rise hotels of the newer section. The wealthy family chose a plain area with sporadic taco stands and mom-and-pop type corners stores nearby, apparently in an attempt to lay low.

The prosecutor’s office said the pair will be deported to the United States.

Authorities believe Ethan Couch fled after the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office began investigating a video that surfaced online allegedly showing the teen at a party with several people playing beer pong, a drinking game.

It took a surveillance team almost a week to track down Couch, who fled the US fearing the results of a juvenile probation violation in Texas.

He and his mother, Ms Tonya Couch, 48, disappeared this month, prompting officials in Tarrant County, Texas, to place the teen on the county’s most wanted list and issue a warrant for his arrest.

Both had been scheduled to fly back to Houston after authorities said a phone call for pizza led to their capture in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta. If found to be drinking, Couch’s probation could be revoked and he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. If he violates probation, he could face up to 10 years in prison per death, Ms Wilson said.

Tarrant County’s District Attorney Sharen Wilson said at Tuesday’s news conference that she is requesting the juvenile court “transfer his probation to the adult court and deal with him in the adult system”, adding that she doesn’t view his current sentence as a “sufficient punishment for the taking of four lives”.

This Dec. 28, 2015 photo released by Mexico’s Jalisco state prosecutor’s office shows who authorities identify as Ethan Couch, after he was taken into custody in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The police report said they behaved evasively, claimed to be carrying no IDs, gave inconsistent stories about their names and failed to provide proof of their legal migratory status in Mexico. “They would have had to enter, for example, as tourists, but they entered without registering”.

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.