The mother of Ethan Couch, the ‘affluenza’ teen who killed four people while drunk driving, bonded out of a Texas jail on Tuesday. Tonya Couch walked out of the Tarrant County jail Tuesday morning after after a judge reduced her bail from $1 million to just $75,000.
Texas State District Judge Wayne Salvant said Couch’s charge — hindering the apprehension of a fugitive — wasn’t serious enough to warrant such a high bail.
Couch was held overnight in jail so she could be fitted with a GPS monitor. She is confined to her home except to visit her doctor.
Couch and Ethan, 18, fled to Mexico after he violated his court-ordered probation. They were captured in Puerto Vallarta while ordering pizza.
Tonya Couch was extradited to the United States but Ethan Couch was granted a stay by a Mexican judge.
His case could be tied up in Mexican courts for months while he fights extradition.
Prosecutors urged the judge to reconsider releasing Tonya Couch, saying she “showed a willingness to disregard rules by helping her son flee the terms of his probation.”
But Salvant dismissed their concerns.
“We’re talking about a case that the punishment range is 2 to 10 years,” Salvant said. “Let’s look at it for what it is.”
The judge ordered Couch to comply with weekly check-ins and drug tests.
Couch’s other son, James McWilliams, said his mother is not as wealthy as the media claims.
He said her bank account holds only $100,000, which has been frozen by the feds.
She doesn’t even have enough money to buy a toothbrush.
