‘Affluenza’ teen’s mom complains about jail conditions

FORT WORTH, Texas – A “woman with means” who was arrested at a Mexican beach resort city with her fugitive teenage son who invoked “affluenza” as a defense after killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck has complained about the conditions of her Texas jail cell, a sheriff said Friday.

“She expressed a slight displeasure about her accommodations, and I told her this was a jail and not a resort,” Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said at a news conference.

Tonya Couch, 48, and her 18-year-old son, Ethan Couch, have been the objects of derision since Ethan was sentenced to probation, rather than jail time, for the 2013 wreck. The case drew renewed rancor when the mother and son fled to Mexico after a video surfaced that appeared to show Ethan Couch, fresh from a rehabilitation center, at a party where people were drinking. If Couch drank alcohol, he violated the terms of his probation.

Tonya Couch made an initial appearance in a Texas courtroom Friday on a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon. She did not enter a plea because her attorney was not present for the arraignment.

Tarrant County Judge Wayne Salvant advised Couch of the charge against her and asked whether she understood. The mother, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit, said she did.

Salvant set bond at $1 million and Couch’s attorney, Stephanie Patten, filed a motion asking for the bond to be reduced. “We think anything $25,000 or under would be fair,” Patten told reporters.