Sheriff says bond posted by mother of ‘affluenza’ teen; released expected Tuesday

State District Judge Wayne Salvant said he understood prosecutors’ concerns that Couch might flee again, but that the charge against her, while a third-degree felony, wasn’t serious enough to merit a $1 million bond.

Tonya Couch, front right, heads to the defense table before her…

The mother of a Texas teenager who used an “affluenza” defense for a deadly wreck could soon leave jail days after the two were caught in a Mexican resort town.

Ethan Couch is in custody in Mexico City where he is fighting extradition to the U.S. In Tarrant County, he is serving 10 years on probation for a 2013 drunken driving crash that killed four people and injured several others.

Couch was charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon, after she was found with her son, Ethan, in Puerto Vallarta last month.

Son Steven McWilliams testified at a hearing Monday that his mother can’t pay a bond that high.

Ethan Couch was 16 when he killed four people in June 2013.

Tonya, who was arrested in Mexico on December 28 for hindering apprehension of a fugitive, was arraigned Friday and held on $1 million bond. While prosecutors argued for a lengthy prison time, Ethan was sentenced 10 years probation. A witness for the defense said because his parents were rich and set no boundaries, Ethan Couch suffered from “affluenza”.

He said that his mother’s bank account, which contains about $100,000, has been frozen by authorities.

An investigator for the Tarrant County district attorney’s office testified that the Couches got together with friends and others before they left for a “planning meeting”. Tonya Couch’s son Stephen McWilliams revealed during questioning that a pickup truck that disappeared at the same time as Ethan and Tonya Couch belonged to her husband’s sheet metal company. Couch, the mother of a Texas teenager who used an “afflu…”

Gabbert said that teen’s attorney had contacted him to say the teen had Ethan Couch’s driver’s license and a credit card.

Law enforcement officials say Tonya, 48, and Ethan, 18, fled to Mexico after a video surfaced that appeared to show the teen at a party drinking alcohol.

She has been ordered to reside with another son, Stephen McWilliams, and must submit to electronic monitoring, weekly check-ins with a probation officer, and drug testing. The order said the court determined there was reasonable cause to believe she “has a mental illness or is a person with a mental retardation”.