North Texas

‘Affluenza Mom' Tonya Couch to Remain Free After Alleged Probation Violation

Court order says Tonya Couch drank alcohol, a violation of her probation

A week after the Tarrant County District Attorney first filed a motion to revoke bond for "affluenza mom" Tonya Couch, claiming she violated her probation, a judge has decided not to put her in jail.

On Thursday morning, Judge Wayne Salvant told Couch that he wouldn't put her in jail for taking a sip of beer or attending a gun show, but told her she needed to use common sense, according to our media partners at The Dallas Morning News.

According to the affidavit, Couch violated her probation when she drank alcohol on June 16. A Johnson County commissioner later said he had seen Couch holding a rifle at a gun show. Couch's attorney Steve Gordon gave no immediate comment.

Couch, who was charged in 2016 with hindering the apprehension of a felon and money laundering, was freed last year after posting $75,000 bond.

The felon was her son Ethan, who was facing allegations that he violated his probation in 2015. Ethan was 16 when he killed four people in June 2013, ramming a pickup truck into a crowd of people trying to help stranded motorists on the side of a North Texas road. He was driving at nearly three times the legal blood alcohol limit for adult drivers.

The case gained notoriety when his attorneys employed the now-famous "affluenza defense," stating that because of how the teen was raised he was unable to discern right from wrong.

The conditions of Tonya Couch's probation for assisting her son's flight to Mexico were that she wear an electronic ankle monitor and that she must remain at home except for appointments with her doctor and lawyer. She was to be electronically monitored 24 hours per day and was subject to a visit from a probation officer at any time. She was also ordered to take routine drug tests.

Ethan Couch, whose case was transferred to adult court in April 2016, is currently serving two years in county jail as a part of his adult probation.

NBC 5's Scott Gordon and Don Peritz contributed to this report.

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