Sheriff: Mother of Texas ‘affluenza’ teen posts bond

A judge on Monday lowered the mother’s bond from $1 million to $75,000. Her bail was set at $1 million after she was returned from Mexico to the United States.

She was arraigned Friday in Fort Worth but did not enter a formal plea. Ethan Couch remains in a Mexico City detention facility, where he is contesting his extradition.

On Monday, Mothers Against Drunk Driving started a petition supporting Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson’s decision to ask for Ethan Couch to be moved from the juvenile justice system to the adult criminal system.

Prosecutors had sought a 20-year jail sentence, but Ethan Couch was instead sentenced to 10 years of probation, during which he was required to be drug- and alcohol-free.

Judge Salvant slashed Tonya’s bond to $75,000 Monday.

Ballard, who was a passenger in Ethan Couch’s pickup the night of the deadly crash, told Gabbert that he was at the meeting, and that the group discussed where the Couches would go, how they’d get there and how much money they would need.

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 was brought back to Texas last week after being caught with 18-year-old Ethan Couch in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta. He is the power of attorney over her affairs, but he said he is locked out of her bank account. According to an arrest warrant, Tonya Couch is accused of telling Fred Couch that he would never see her or Ethan again before fleeing.

Tonya Couch, front left, the mother of a Texas teen who used an “affluenza” defense in a drunken wreck, leaves Tarrant County jail, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas. Authorities say Couch and his mother took off after he failed to check in with his probation officer. He said she doesn’t own any property and would be unable to pay her own bail.

The mental examination will determine whether there is clinical evidence to support the argument that Tonya Couch may be incompetent to stand trial. An order for pizza was what was reported to have tipped authorities off as to the pair’s whereabouts. “We hope that the restrictions that were put on her are going to be sufficient to keep her where she needs to be”, he said after the bond was reduced.