Ethan Couch, ‘affluenza teen,’ caught in Mexico with mom, official confirms

Authorities said Texas teenager Ethan Couch, who’s 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, Tonya Couch, disappeared.

“At this point, we have not had the opportunity to speak with our client and we do not anticipate being able to do so unless and until he arrives in the United States”.

Couch, the son of millionaire parents, became known as the “affluenza” teen during his trial in juvenile court, when a psychologist said he was so wealthy and spoiled, he could not tell the difference between right and wrong. He was sentenced to 10 years drug-and-alcohol-free probation for intoxication manslaughter, a punishment condemned by critics as privilege rewarded with leniency.

Couch, now 18, and his mother, Tonya Couch, fled the country after a video surfaced online apparently showing Couch at a party where beer was being consumed.

Once returned to Texas, Couch will be held in a Tarrant County facility until a probation violation hearing next month.

The party was part of an elaborate escape plan that the teenager, Ethan Couch, 18, and his mother, Tonya Couch, 48, crafted, law enforcement officials said.

CNN, citing officials briefed on the matter, said Couch and his mother were located near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and said Couch would be turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service.

They were expected to be returned to Houston on a commercial flight later yesterday from Jalisco’s state capital, Guadalajara, Vera said. He said the two did not register when entering Mexico, but it was not clear where they came in.

At a press conference Tuesday, Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said that the justice system struggled to fulfill its promise “the first time” in the Couch case.

Anderson said it appears the two planned their disappearance and even held something of a going-away party. The pair did not resist arrest.

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

No immediate charges were planned for others who may have known about or assisted with the flight plan, Anderson said.

She may have helped her son leave the country just after Thanksgiving, authorities believe.

Authorities said Couch dyed his hair in an attempt to hide while in Mexico.

She also recalled an exchange with the mother last week as she sat outside her home on the sidewalk across the street.

Of all the places to hide, McConnell said, the popular resort town seemed like the latest in a string of bad decisions made by mother and son.

Initially, Couch and his mother stayed at a resort, Los Tules, downtown by the beach and then moved to the apartment, according to prosecutors.

Ethan and Tonya Couch met with US consular officials and underwent a routine medial checkup, Vera said.

A police booking picture from Mexico showed the previously blond Ethan Couch with dark hair, which the sheriff said suggested Couch was trying to change his appearance.

Due to his age, he wasn’t certified as an adult for trial and a judge sentenced him in juvenile court to 10 years’ probation and a stint in a rehab centre. Ethan Couch already has a hearing scheduled on January 19 to allow him to be treated as an adult rather than a juvenile.

Prosecutors had sought 20 years in prison for Couch, but the court handed him a surprise sentence of mental-health treatment and a decade of probation.

U.S. Marshal Rick Taylor described the work of local, federal and worldwide authorities to track down the Couches as “nothing more than a textbook case” of collaboration.

In June 2013, a drunken Couch was speeding on a road south of Fort Worth when he crashed into an SUV at the side of the road, killing four people and injuring several others, including passengers in his pick-up truck.

“I think she deserves to be incarcerated”, said Wilson. Dad Fred Couch, the sheet-metal king, shrugged and said he was clueless, which few doubted.

Investigators received information from people who know the Couches and “dozens and dozens of calls of sightings” of them or their pickup truck, he said.