Texas ‘Affluenza’ Teen Apparently Spent Thousands on Alcohol, Strip Clubs

Ethan Couch's lawyer admits deportation appeal could take months

Ethan Couch. (Mexico's Jalisco state prosecutor's office via AP)

In this December 2013 image taken from a video by KDFW-FOX 4, Ethan Couch is seen during his court hearing in Fort Worth, Texas. Authorities are investigating whether Couch, who killed four people in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck, and claimed as part of his defense that he suffered from "affluenza", has fled with his mother to avoid a potential violation of his probation. (AP Photo/KDFW-FOX 4, File)

Lawyer says appeal could take months

Lawyer Fernando Benitez said he will meet Tuesday with client Ethan Couch at the immigration detention center where the teen is being held in Mexico City. That meeting will determine whether Couch stretches out the process, or agrees to drop the appeal.

“If he doesn’t want to continue with it (the appeal), he could be deported in 24 hours,” Benitez said.

Benitez said he was hired to represent Couch in Mexico, but didn’t say who hired him.

This undated wanted poster photo provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, shows Ethan Couch. The U.S. Marshals Service have joined the search for Couch, a teenager who was serving probation for killing four people in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck after invoking a defense that he suffered from "affluenza." (U.S. Marshals Service via AP)

If Couch decides he prefers to stay at the spartan detention center in a Mexico City slum, rather than return to Texas, the appeal could take “some weeks, or some months,” Benitez said. He noted that Couch was just hours away from being deported last week when the injunction was granted.

Couch is currently sitting in a jail in Guadalajara, Mexico, and is fighting efforts to extradite him to Texas. Authorities in the state want to question him about a video where he’s seen at a beer pong party.

Couch and his mother fled their hometown of Fort Worth last month after the video was posted on Twitter. They went to Mexico with their dog and arrived in Puerto Vallarta on Dec. 19.

Couch was driving drunk and speeding near Fort Worth in June 2013 when he crashed into a disabled SUV, killing four people and injuring several others, including passengers in his pickup truck.

He pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury.

During the sentencing phase of his trial, a defense expert argued that his 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 during the legal proceedings drew ridicule.

A judge sentenced Couch to 10 years’ probation and a stint in a rehabilitation center.

Couch missed a mandatory appointment with his probation officer Dec. 10.

With The Associated Press.