‘Affluenza’ Mother Worried Sick About Dog Lost in Mexico

A Texas judge on Monday slashed the bond required for a mother charged with helping her teenage son flee to Mexico after he was suspected of violating a probation deal that kept him out of prison in a fatal drunk driving crash.

MADD has launched a petition to have Couch’s case “moved from juvenile to adult court before a January 19 hearing”.

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”. “We’re talking about a third-degree felony”.

Originally, prosecutors deemed Tonya Couch a flight risk, and her bond was $1 million.

Tonya Couch’s attorney, Stephanie Patten, said in court Monday that her finances could prevent her from paying bond.

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.

Ethan Couch is in an immigration detention facility in Mexico and fighting deportation back to the United States.

McWilliams testified that his mother does not have access to her bank accounts, which could contain $100,000. The case drew widespread derision after an expert called by Ethan Couch’s lawyers argued he had been coddled into a sense of irresponsibility by his wealthy parents, a condition the expert called “affluenza”. “Affluenza” is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association.

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.

The search for Couch and her son began after he missed one of his monthly check-ins, a condition of his probation.

Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson told reporters after the hearing there was a possibility she could run again.

“I don’t think [the new amount] is oppressive”.

Mother and son drove in a pickup truck to Puerto Vallarta, where they were caught by Mexican authorities after a manhunt lasting more than two weeks. MADD was outraged, along with millions of others when the judge sentenced Couch to a stint in rehab and 10 years in probation after the defense successfully argued that he was too rich to understand what he had done was wrong, better known as “Affluenza”.