Tonya Couch, the "Affluenza mom" of teenage fugitive Ethan Couch, waived extradition in Los Angeles on Tuesday and could be returned to Texas later in the week on a charge of helping her son flee to Mexico, where he remains.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office told the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Couch, 38, was being held in jail in Los Angeles until authorities from Tarrant County can arrive there to transfer her back to Texas.
"We do this all the time," Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said of the extradition paperwork involved. "But there usually isn't this much scrutiny. She is in custody, and she can't get out of custody until she gets here."
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sergio Tapia approved Tonya Couch's extradition Tuesday, according to
CNN. She has been charged in Tarrant County with hindering the apprehension of a fugitive and her bail in Texas was set at $1 million.
Terry Grisham, a Tarrant County sheriff's spokesman, told
People magazine that Tonya Couch could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the felony charge.
Ethan Couch, 18, was on probation for killing four people in a 2013 drunken driving accident when he was 16, said CNN. A Texas district judge sentenced him to probation, though, after Couch's attorneys put on an "affluenza" defense, claiming the teen's privileged upbringing prevented him from understand right from wrong.
Ethan Couch had been on the run, reportedly with his mother, since mid-December after missing a probation meeting and the release of a video on Twitter reportedly showing him at a beer pong party.
The two were found in Mexico on Dec. 28 after going missing, said People. Tarrant County district attorney Sharen Wilson said Ethan Couch could face a maximum of four months in prison for violating probation.
Ethan Couch's attorneys Scott Brown and Wm. Regan Wynn told People that representation has been found for the youth in Mexico and a judge has granted a stay the proceedings.
"We believe this means Ethan will remain where he is until the Mexican federal judge ascertains whether or not Ethan's rights are, or potentially will be, violated," the attorneys said, per People. "Accordingly, we believe that, until the Mexican federal judge enters an appropriate order authorizing it, Ethan will not be returned to the United States."
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