The infamous “affluenza” teen could return from Mexico to Texas as early as Thursday to face charges for a fatal drunk-driving incident he was involved in three years ago.
Ethan Couch’s Mexican attorney Fernando Benitez announced Monday afternoon that his client had chosen to drop his appeal of a decision that he should be deported.
“I gave him several options, but he decided to go to Texas to face whatever charges he faces,” Benitez said in a report.
Couch and his lawyer now have to wait for the court to lift a court injunction that had suspended his deportation back to the U.S.
A judge is expected to remove the injunction in the next 24 to 48 hours, at which time Couch will be deported, Benitez explained. The 18-year-old has been held at an immigration detention center outside Mexico City since he was apprehended.
In early December, Couch and his mother, Tonya, learned investigators were looking into whether he violated his probation for an accident he caused in 2013 that killed four people. The two fled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and hid for a few weeks before authorities were tipped off and took him into custody.
Couch received his “affluenza” nickname during his trial, when the defense attorney said the teen’s affluent parents spoiled him to such an extent that he did not realize the crime he had committed.
