Deported ‘affluenza’ teen booked into Texas detention center

FORT WORTH, Texas – The teenager who used an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck was booked into a juvenile detention center in Texas following his deportation from Mexico on Thursday, more than a month after he and his mother fled the U.S. as prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation.

Ethan Couch, 18, arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport late Thursday morning and could be seen walking through the airport escorted by law enforcement. Couch and his mother were apprehended in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta on Dec. 28, after a call for pizza delivery tipped off authorities to their whereabouts.

Couch is scheduled for a court hearing Friday, when a judge could decide to move him to an adult jail. Couch also faces a hearing Feb. 19 to determine whether his case will be transferred to the adult system.

Couch was sentenced to 10 years’ probation in juvenile court for the 2013 drunken-driving wreck that killed four people and injured several others. The terms prohibit him from drinking or leaving Tarrant County, Texas.

Authorities believe Couch and his mother fled Texas in early December, after a video appeared to show Couch at a party where people were drinking.