Mother of ‘affluenza’ teenager is jailed in US

“That way bail can not be posted at any other location”.

She’s now in a Los Angeles jail, charged with helping a felon to flee…

Authorities in Texas said an arrest warrant was being issued for Tonya Couch on charges of hindering an apprehension, a third-degree felony that carries a sentence of two to 10 years in prison.

She said there was daily name-calling, that he often grabbed her by the hair and that he once “threw her into a fireplace”.

Legal experts say Ethan Couch could argue that there was a flaw in his detention by Mexican immigration authorities.

Tonya and Ethan Couch fled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, as prosecutors investigated whether the 18-year-old had violated his probation.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office says no extradition hearing will be scheduled this week for Tonya Couch.

According to KXAS-TV, Tonya Couch’s attorneys, Stephanie Patten and Steve Gordon, said in a statement that Tonya Couch “looks forward to returning to Texas as quickly as possible”.

“Is there a chance that Ethan Couch could be successful in staying in Mexico?”

Eighteen-year-old Ethan Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, were being held at immigration offices in Guadalajara on Tuesday. The decision was made because the Mexico City facility for detaining migrants is bigger and better equipped to hold someone for days or weeks.

The official isn’t saying whether Couch is being transported by air or ground.

There was no specific reason Couch was flown to Los Angeles instead of Texas, other than authorities chose the most “rapid, secure and efficient means to return the fugitive to the U.S.”, said Richard Taylor, acting U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Texas. Marshals’ spokeswoman Laura Vega said agency policy was not to comment on prisoner movements.

U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Eugene Hwang said he could not reveal any details about her trip through California or say how long she might remain here, citing security concerns in transporting someone in custody. If prosecutors succeed in having his case transferred to adult court, Couch could then face up to 120 days in an adult jail, followed by 10 years’ probation. He could be held in Mexico for at least two weeks.

A Mexican immigration official said Thursday a judge has agreed to hear arguments on the affluent young man’s appeal, a process that could take weeks or months.

An armed guard stands inside the main gate at the Agujas immigration detention center, where USA fugitive Ethan Couth is being detained in Mexico City, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015. In this case, Couch’s attorneys are asking a judge to prevent authorities from deporting him or holding him without with lawyers, family members or visitors.

Ethan Couch had been placed on 10 years’ probation in early 2014 after pleading guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2013 drunken driving crash.

Ethan Couch, 18, and his mother, Tonya Couch, 48, were captured in the Mexican Pacific Coast city of Puerto Vallarta on Monday.

The infamous “affluenza” teen and his mother had a gun with them as they hid out in a Mexico resort, two staff at a Puerto Vallarta hotel told Reuters. The agents determined they could be deported. The judge had 72 hours to decide whether to take up the case.