Teen who used ‘affluenza’ defence set for release April 2

FORT WORTH, Texas – A 20-year-old who as a teenager used an “affluenza” defence regarding a drunken-driving wreck that killed four people is set to be released April 2.

Ethan Couch has served almost two years in jail for a revoked probation and is to be freed from the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth, Texas. He’s been serving a 720-day sentence after his 2016 probation revocation for attending a party where alcohol was served.

Couch was 16 when the truck he was driving killed pedestrians in June 2013. A psychologist at his manslaughter trial blamed his actions on “affluenza,” or irresponsibility due to family wealth.

His mother, Tonya Couch, awaits trial on charges of hindering apprehension of a felon and money laundering after she fled to Mexico with Ethan in 2015. She’s free on bond.