"RICH ANG MOH" Drunk Driver Killer fled and caught in Mexico

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ethan-c...xico-1.3382667


Updated
Ethan Couch, teen on probation in deadly 'affluenza' DUI, captured in Mexico, to be returned to U.S.
Couch and his mother Tonya located near Puerto Vallarta

The Associated Press Posted: Dec 28, 2015 11:22 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 29, 2015 12:27 PM ET
This photo released by Mexico's Jalisco state prosecutor's office shows a teen identified as Ethan Couch after he was taken into custody in Puerto Vallarta. U.S. authorities said the Texas teenager serving probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck after invoking an "affluenza" defence, was in custody in Mexico, weeks after he and his mother disappeared.

This photo released by Mexico's Jalisco state prosecutor's office shows a teen identified as Ethan Couch after he was taken into custody in Puerto Vallarta. U.S. authorities said the Texas teenager serving probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck after invoking an "affluenza" defence, was in custody in Mexico, weeks after he and his mother disappeared. (Jalisco state prosecutor's office via Associated Press)
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A Mexican official says a Texas teenager on probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck and invoking an "affluenza" defence who was found in Mexico along with his mother will be returned to the United States on Tuesday.

Ricardo Ariel Vera, the representative of Mexico's immigration institute in the western state of Jalisco, said the mother and son were being held at immigration offices in the state capital, Guadalajara, and would be returned to the United States aboard a commercial flight to Houston sometime Tuesday

Mexico's Jalisco state prosecutors' office said 18-year-old Ethan Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, were located and detained Monday evening in the Pacific Coast resort city of Puerto Vallarta.

"They are going to be sent back to their country, given that they were in Mexico improperly," Ariel Vera said. "They would have had to enter, for example, as tourists, but they entered without registering."

Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said at a news conference that the warrant would be issued for Tonya Couch on charges of hindering an apprehension.

Ethan Couch, 'affluenza' teen who killed 4 in DUI, sought by police

Anderson said it appears the two planned their disappearance and even held something of a going-away party. He said the U.S. Marshals Service was working to get the two returned to the United States.

During the sentencing phase of Couch's trial, a defence expert argued that Couch's wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility — a condition the expert termed "affluenza." The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew widespread ridicule.
TEXAS-AFFLUENZA/

Ethan Couch is shown in this handout photo provided by the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department in Fort Worth, Texas, December 17, 2015. (Tarrant County Sheriff's Dept./Reuters)

A prosecutor says that during a hearing next month they plan to ask a judge to transfer Ethan Couch's case to adult court.

Couch's attorneys, Scott Brown and Reagan Wynn, said in a statement they won't comment on the case until they speak with their client, which likely won't happen before Couch reaches the U.S.

Mexico's Jalisco state prosecutors' office said in a statement that its agents had been working with American authorities via the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara since Dec. 26 to track down and capture the two.
Changed hair colour

Couch and his mother were found in a dowdy section of Puerto Vallarta's old town, far from the glitzy resorts, golf courses and high-rise hotels of the city's newer section.

The street corner where they were found is dotted with a small sandwich shop, a taco stand, and a mom-and-pop corner store. A playground and a day-care centre with a fence topped with razor-wire stand nearby.

Couch was apparently trying to lie low, and even disguise himself; a photo distributed by the Jalisco state prosecutor's office show him in detention with his blond hair dyed black and his normally blondish beard a light brown. He appeared pale and untanned.

After their detention, they were handed over to Mexican immigration authorities for deportation, the statement said.
Failed to keep appointment

Authorities had begun searching for the pair after Ethan Couch failed to keep a mandatory appointment with his probation officer on Dec. 10, leading authorities to issue the juvenile equivalent of an arrest warrant for him.

Anderson has said he believes the two fled in late November after a video surfaced that appears to show Couch at a party where people were drinking. If found to be drinking, Couch's probation could be revoked and he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

In June 2013 at age 16, Ethan Couch was driving drunk and speeding on a dark two-lane road south of Fort Worth when he crashed into a disabled SUV off to the side, killing four people and injuring several others, including passengers in Couch's pickup truck.

Couch pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury. Because of his age, he wasn't certified as an adult for trial and a judge sentenced him in juvenile court to 10 years' probation and a stint in a rehabilitation center.

Anderson was among those critical of the judge's decision not to incarcerate Couch. The sheriff said that the teen has never expressed remorse for his actions and that his case sparked more outrage than any other Anderson has encountered in his law enforcement career.

© The Associated Press, 2015


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