An adult court appearance for Ethan Couch was set for today. Couch, also known as “affluenza teen,” turned 19 on Monday and faced a judge, who sentenced him to 720 days in jail for violating his probation by fleeing to Mexico.
Ethan Couch‘s adult court appearance was scheduled for Wednesday. Mr. Couch, who has been given the nickname “affluenza teen,” turned 19 on Monday, and was, therefore, standing as an adult in front of Criminal District Judge Wayne Salvant in Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Couch was sentenced to 720 days in jail as a condition of his continued probation.
Most experts had predicted the outcome of today’s hearing and said that Judge Salvant was going to order Couch to serve at least 120/180 days in jail. The judge also had the option of releasing the young man from his probation and setting him free, but that was highly unlikely.
Couch has been jailed at the Lon Evans Correctional Center in Fort Worth since early 2016 after captivating the media by violating his probation and fleeing to Mexico with the help of his mother, Tonya Couch. The chaos caused a fugitive hunt involving the U.S. Marshals Service and FBI. The mother and son duo fled the country after a video surfaced showing Couch at a party where alcohol was being served, this was a direct violation of his probation.
In 2013, Couch was sentenced to 10 years of probation for killing four people during a drunk driving accident. According to the police report, on the night of June 15, after stealing two cases of beers from a Walmart store, Couch, who has a history of run-ins with the law, got into one his father’s vehicles with seven passengers who were not wearing any seat belts. Court documents showed:
Couch who was drunk and high on Valium was driving his father’s truck at 70 MPH on rural, two-lane Burleson-Retta Road where motorist Breanna Mitchell’s sport utility vehicle had stalled. Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby, who lived nearby, had come out to help her, as had passing youth minister Brian Jennings. Couch’s truck swerved off the road and into Mitchell’s SUV, then plowed into Jennings’ parked car, which in turn hit an oncoming Volkswagen Beetle. The truck then flipped over and hit a tree. Mitchell, Jennings, and both Hollie and Shelby Boyles were killed, while Couch and his seven teenage passengers (none wearing seat belts) survived, as did the two children in Jennings’ car and the two people in the Volkswagen.
Couch, who was charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault, was supposed to spend 20 years behind bars, but instead got a slap on the wrist from Judge Jean Boyd. The wealthy teenager was sentenced to 10 years probation, and Judge Boyd ordered him to spend at least one year in rehabilitation at the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon where taxpayers picked up a $200,000 bill for his treatment.
Ethan Couch’s mother, who is sporting an ankle monitor will face Judge Salvant in the upcoming days – she faces a third-degree felony charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon.
What are your thoughts on Ethan Couch’s two-year jail sentence?
Among the spectators are Fred Couch (Ethan Couch's dad, front right) and Couch's half brother (back, left) pic.twitter.com/NY3MMDYfQu
— Naheed Rajwani (@naheedrajwani) April 13, 2016
