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‘Affluenza Teen’ Ethan Couch’s Mom Paid For His Strippers in Mexico — Could Avoid Deportation For Months

By Patricia Grannum
Published on: 04:19 PST, Jan 2, 2016

Ethan Couch and his mom lived a fun life in Mexico before they were arrested, Newser reported via USA Today. According to the article in Newser, Ethan Couch’s mom, Tonya Couch, paid for her son’s time at a strip club while the two of them were fugitives from the law.

Ethan Couch and Tonya Couch were staying at the Los Tulles resort in Puerto Vallerta in Mexico. A hotel employee told Dallas Morning News that one night during their stay, Ethan went to a “gentleman’s club” (also known as a strip club) and did not have enough money to pay his tab. The employee added that the club manager and a waiter accompanied the “affluenza teen,” back to the resort where his mother had to be woken up to pay his bill. The resort employee also said that they left a firearm in one hotel room before they moved to another one, ABC News reported. The gun was discovered by the next occupant in the hotel room and Ethan had to retrieve it from resort management.

Ethan Couch and his mother’s behavior was pretty strange, the hotel employee noted.

“I knew them only as the Texans because that’s the only thing they’d tell me when I asked for their names: ‘We’re from Texas.'” she said.

They also refused to complete their registration forms at the hotel, according to the employee, and did not offer their IDs. Ethan also misspelled his name as “Edthan” and the two also reportedly brought along their dog on their getaway trip. But, the dog apparently helped Ethan and his mother to delay deportation at first, CBS DFW reported.

According to the article, Tonya Couch claimed that the dog was removed from them illegally, which made their arrest unlawful. But, that didn’t hold up for long. Tonya Couch was deported from Guadalajara Mexico on Monday to Los Angeles. According to CBS DFW, her deportation went through because the judge did not receive an injunction blocking it. However, they did receive an injunction to delay Ethan Couch’s deportation.

“When she arrives, the warrant we have for her for hindering the apprehension of Ethan will be served upon her and that’s a felony here in Texas,” said Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson, at the time. “And we will have to extradite her back to Texas and she will have to face those charges here.”

Ethan Couch has become famous for using an “affluenza” defense when he was tried for killing four people in a drunk driving incident in June 2013. He crashed into a disabled SUV and not only killed four people but injured the passengers in his pickup truck. He pleaded guilty to charges of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury. He was sentenced to 10 years probation.

As The Huffington Post reports, Couch’s defense was that his parents spoiled him so much that he did not understand responsibility or accountability for his actions. One defense expert coined the term”affluenza” to define Ethan Couch’s condition. However, the term is not a recognized as a psychological diagnosis, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Prosecutors say they believe Ethan Couch and his mother Tonya hightailed it out of Texas when a video that seemed to show Ethan drinking at a party went public. He soon after missed a compulsory meeting with his probation officer.

Both Ethan Couch and his mother were arrested on Monday after their pizza delivery order was traced to a condominium complex in Puerto Vallerta.

Ethan Couch won an injunction from a Mexican judge on Wednesday that delayed his deportation. The ruling could mean that Ethan Couch stays in Mexico for months because of arguments which claim that forcing him out of Mexico would be unlawful and a violation of his rights.

[Photo by U.S. Marshals Service via AP, File]

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