'Affluenza' Teen Ethan Couch No Longer Fighting Deportation From Mexico
Lawyers representing Ethan Couch, the infamous "affluenza" Texas teenager, said they have dropped their fight against his deportation to the United States.
A Mexican official announced Tuesday that the 18-year-old was dropping his fight against being sent home to Texas from Mexico, reports The New York Times. Couch and his mother, Tonya, fled to Mexico in December, after a video posted on social media appeared to show the teen engaging in a drinking game.
His lawyers say he fled in fear the video would prove he violated the 10-year probation sentence he received at the age of 16, after he killed four people in a drunk driving accident in 2013. Couch's attorney's successfully kept him out of prison by arguing that he suffered from a condition called "affluenza," which prohibited the rich, spoiled teen from knowing the difference from right and wrong.
Both Couch and his mother were arrested last month in Mexico following an extensive manhunt. Tonya Couch was quickly deported, but her son won a delay based on a constitutional appeal. He is currently being held in a detention center in Mexico City.
Lawyers for the teenager presented a document to a court in western Jalisco State seeking to end the stay granted against his deportation. However, Couch must still sign the paperwork and have it ratified by the judicial authorities. Once that is done, he would return to the United States to face charges that he violated his probation by fleeing the country.
"It is our understanding that paperwork has been filed by Ethan's counsel in Mexico that will terminate the ongoing Mexican immigration proceedings," his attorneys, Scott Brown and William Reagan Wynn, said in a statement, according to Reuters. "We believe that this will result in Ethan's return to the United States within the next few weeks."
Couch is also scheduled to appear in court in February for a hearing that will determine if his case should be prosecuted in a juvenile court or an adult court.
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