'Affluenza' Teen's Mom Sent Back to Texas From L.A.

The mother of “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch was flown today from Los Angeles to Texas, where she is facing a felony charge for allegedly helping her 18-year-old son flee to Mexico while he was on probation in a case stemming from a deadly drunken driving crash.

Tonya Couch was escorted on an American Airlines flight by two sheriff’s deputies after being picked up from a Los Angeles County jail, according to Terry Grisham, executive administrator for the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office in Texas.

At a hearing Tuesday in Los Angeles, the 48-year-old woman waived extradition to Texas. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sergio C. Tapia II ordered her held without bail while she was waiting to be picked up by authorities from Texas. Couch also acknowledged at that hearing that she was wanted by the state of Texas.

She was detained in Los Angeles on a no-bail hold for Texas authorities after being deported from Mexico last week. Couch and her son were arrested Dec. 28 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in connection with his alleged probation violation stemming from a deadly drunken- driving crash in Texas. Lawyers for the teen -- who was 16 at the time of the crash that killed four people -- successfully argued in 2013 he should not go to prison because he suffered from growing up in affluent circumstances.

Ethan Couch missed a required check-in with Texas authorities earlier this month after video surfaced showing him at a party where drinking was occurring. He has been granted a stay in his deportation case while the legal process in Mexico runs its course, according to his Texas attorneys.

City News Service