'Affluenza' teen, mother arrested in Mexico

USA and Mexican authorities are coordinating their return to Tarrant County, officials said a .

Will Ethan Couch, the "affluenza" teen, get off lightly again?

Police handed the pair over to Mexican immigration authorities for being in the country without the proper permission so they could be returned to the United States, the Jalisco State Attorney General's Office said. "Could be tomorrow, could be later than that", the sheriff added.

Eighteen-year-old Ethan Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, were being held at immigration offices in Guadalajara on Tuesday.

THE Texan teen on probation for killing four people in a drunken wreck after relying on an "affluenza" defence had a going-away party with his mum before the two fled to Mexico.

If he is not certified as an adult before his birthday, Couch would be released from probation.

"We learned through some interviews that what we suspected all along had happened, that they had planned to disappear, that they even had something that was akin to a going-away party before they left town", Dee Anderson, the Tarrant County sheriff, said at a news conference in Fort Worth.

Anderson did not give the specific date of the Couches alleged departure.

It's incomprehensible that Ethan Couch will be free to sleep in his own bed anytime soon, although you might have thought that back when Jean Boyd had the case.

The max he could get would be 120 days.

"In our state - in juvenile court - the standard is what is in the best interest of the child", Wilson said.

If his case is transferred to the adult courts he wouldn't receive extra time if convicted. Even though he violated probation, he may only face a few months behind bars.

Though he's an adult now, Couch was 16 when he was sentenced for the original crime.

Couch has a hearing scheduled for January 19 to determine whether the case will be handled in adult court.

As it pertains to Couch's conviction DA Wilson explained, "We are bound by the sentence that he received from the juvenile court - which was a 10-year probated sentence".

He could now serve some of that sentence - and now in an adult court.

Then there's his mother, Tonya Couch.

Since the time of the incident, Sheriff Anderson said, it has been clear that his mother, Tonya Couch, did not believe that her son needed to be punished.

And a poster boy: Ethan Couch. Couch was also ordered to enter a "lock down" addiction treatment facility and not to drive or use alcohol or drugs for 10 years. One suffered internal injuries and broken bones, while the other suffered a brain injury that has rendered the person unable to speak or move.

The "affluenza" nickname for the teen came from a psychologist who said during Couch's trial he was so wealthy and spoiled he could not tell the difference between right and wrong.

U.S. Marshal Rick Taylor of the Northern District of Texas described the work of local, federal and global authorities to track down the Couches as "nothing more than a textbook case" of collaboration.

It was discovered in early December that Ethan had skipped out on a meeting with his probation officer.

Couch disappeared after the district attorney's office began investigating a video that appeared to show him clapping as friends played beer pong.

An official told CNN Tuesday that U.S. Marshals tracked him to Puerto Vallarta by tracing his cellphone usage. Agents spotted them that night. His normally reddish blond hair and goatee were dyed a dark color.

Both are still in Mexico, officials said.

"I think she deserves to be incarcerated", said Wilson. "They would have had to enter, for example, as tourists, but they entered without registering".

The prosecutor's office said the pair will be deported to the United States.

"I don't remember", she said. Their passports had been reported missing by the teen's father, who has been cooperating with investigators.