Ethan Couch, the teen who avoided jail-time for killing four people while driving drunk by arguing he suffered from “affluenza,” will not fight extradition to the United States from Mexico, Reuters reports. This means that within a few days, one of the most reviled teens in America will likely land behind bars in an American jail.
Fernando Benitez, Couch’s attorney in Mexico, told Reuters that he gave Couch “several options,” but Couch decided that “he wants to go back to his home state and face whatever legal consequences result from whatever actions took place over the past few months.”
Couch and his mother Tonya Couch vanished from Texas in December after video surfaced online of someone who appeared to be Ethan Couch participating in drinking games, a violation of the terms of his parole. Both were apprehended by Mexican authorities in Puerto Vallarta following a two-week-long manhunt by authorities in both countries.
Tonya Couch was quickly returned to the U.S., and the Associated Press reported she was charged with “hindering the apprehension of a felon.” She could face a decade in prison if convicted.
Back in 2013, Couch was sentenced to only 10 years of substance-free probation after a psychologist argued that Couch was “so wealthy and spoiled he could not tell the difference between right and wrong,” according to Reuters.
Couch himself could face 40 years if he’s found to have violated the terms of his probation, a decade for each death from his drunk driving wreck in 2013. This sentence might just be long enough for him to begin to understand what he almost got away with thanks to his despicable defense.