Ethan Couch may not be prison-bound, but his mother, Tonya Couch, could be looking at hard time:
Tonya Couch, the mother of “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch, was arrested today by the Los Angeles Police Department on a felony charge after arriving back in the United States from Mexico.
She was being held on no bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Downtown Los Angeles, police said, as they wait for Texas authorities to take her home.
Tonya Couch is facing a felony charge of Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution and may face a two to 10 year prison sentence if found guilty. Her bail has been set at $1 million.
Meanwhile, employees at the resort where the mother-son duo were holed up are reporting hotel cleaners found a gun that was left behind in one of the rooms they stayed in:
x.@ABC exclusive, the gun hotel employees say they found in Ethan Couch's room in Mexico. We have more on @WNTonightpic.twitter.com/rGDuf4TLuw
— Matt Gutman (@mattgutmanABC) December 31, 2015No word on whether Mexican authorities may now have a case against Ethan Couch regarding the illegal handgun. If proven to be Ethan’s, it would appear to be another violation of Ethan’s probation. And in the Dallas News coverage they note that the longer it takes to get Ethan back in front of a Texas judge, the worse off it may be for him:
Peter Schulte, a Dallas lawyer who isn’t tied to the case but has represented juveniles before, said it appears the Couches have hired Mexican counsel — lawyers familiar with the laws in that country — to help with the deportation case.
However long the extraditions take, though, Ethan and Tonya Couch’s actions south of the border will likely affect how judges here in North Texas deal with them, Schulte said.
“It’s a mistake to go down this path. It has the potential to show the judge that his intent was to flee,” Schulte said. “Ethan’s going to have to make a decision: either say he was with this all along or he’s going to have to blame his mother.”