Mom of affluenza teen Ethan Couch faces arrest again for failed drug test

0 Friday, June 8, 2018 Edit this post

By Mitch Mitchell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH, Texas

Bond has been revoked for Tonya Couch, the mother of a teen who caused a drunken driving crash that killed four people, according to court documents.

Couch, 51, is accused of violating the terms of her release from jail by using amphetamines and methamphetamines, according to the document. A warrant has been issued for her arrest.

Couch made bond last month after being arrested in March when she tested positive for another substance. Conditions of her bond prohibit her from using or possessing any controlled substances, marijuana or alcohol.

Couch faces charges of hindering apprehension of a felon stemming from accusations that she helped her son, Ethan Couch, flee to Mexico in 2015 and money laundering.

She is also accused of withdrawing $30,000 from a bank account and hiding with her son in Mexico after he missed a probation appointment in 2015.

They were both arrested a few weeks later in the Mexican resort town of Cancun and returned to Texas.

Four people died and several others were injured in a 2013 drunken driving wreck caused by Ethan Couch, now 21, in southern Tarrant County. He was sentenced to 10 years' probation in the case but had been jailed for violating the conditions of his probation.

He garnered national attention after a witness at his trial said he suffered from "affluenza," meaning that his affluent upbringing and dysfunctional parents kept him from learning right from wrong.

Ethan Couch was released from jail in April after completing his two-year sentence for violating the terms of his probation.

This is the third time that Tonya Couch has come before a Tarrant County judge concerning issues with her bond, according to court records.

According to the Tarrant County district attorney's office, Judge Wayne Salvant has issued a gag order in this case.

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(This report includes information from the Star-Telegram archives.)

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