Judge orders Texas ‘affluenza’ teen to nearly 2 years’ jail

FORT WORTH, Texas – The Texas teenager who used an “affluenza” defence in a fatal drunken-driving crash must serve nearly two years in jail, a judge ordered Wednesday.

Ethan Couch, who turned 19 on Monday, was making his first appearance in adult court. Prosecutors had argued that he should be sentenced for 180 days for each of four counts of intoxication manslaughter.

The terms will be served consecutively. It was not clear if that would include the time Couch has already spent in jail.

Couch killed four people and seriously injured two others in June 2013 when he rammed a truck into a crowd of people helping a disabled motorist. His blood-alcohol level was three times above the legal limit for adult drivers.

A juvenile court judge originally sentenced Couch only to probation, angering the families of his victims. Further sparking outrage was the contention of a defence psychologist that Couch had been coddled into a dangerous sense of irresponsibility by his wealthy parents. The psychologist used the term “affluenza.”

Couch ended up in trouble again last year after a cellphone video showed him at what appeared to be a party with alcohol. Drinking alcohol is a violation of Couch’s probation. Shortly after the video surfaced, Couch and his mother, Tonya, fled to Mexico.

The two were apprehended in a Mexican resort city in December and sent back to the United States.

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Associated Press writers Reese Dunklin and Emily Schmall contributed to this report.