‘Affluenza’ Teen Ethan Couch Sent Back to Jail After Probation Violation Accusation

“Affluenza” teen Ethan Couch was sent back to jail on Thursday for a supposed probation violation, news station KTVT reports. Couch, who killed four people in a drunk driving crash in June 2013, tested positive for THC and was held in Texas’ Tarrant County Jail without bond. However, Tarrant County officials announced on Friday that the 22-year-old would be released. Couch’s lawyers told news station WFAA that the drug test that detected the THC in their client’s system had produced a false positive. “Ethan is committed to his sobriety and to remaining compliant with all of the terms and conditions imposed,” attorneys Scott Brown and Reagan Wynn said in a statement, adding that Couch had not “knowingly and voluntarily” used drugs or alcohol for 20 months.

Couch was originally sentenced to 10 years probation for intoxication manslaughter after a psychologist testified that Couch was a victim of “affluenza,” or the effects of being raised by wealthy parents in a privileged environment where no limits were placed on him. Couch previously violated his probation in 2015, when a video surfaced of him at a party were alcohol was present. Couch and his mother fled to Mexico after the incident, but Couch eventually served two years in jail.