National News
‘Affluenza’ Teen, Who Killed Four While Driving Drunk, Released From Jail
Affluenza Teen Ethan Couch who killed four in a drunk driving incident, has been released from prison.
Ethan Couch, the teenager dubbed “affluenza teen,” was released from jail early today, after a mere two year sentence for killing four people driving drunk, and then later fleeing to Mexico with his mother who is also now in prison.
The case made headlines worldwide, after lawyers and psychologists for Couch argued that his wealthy upbringing impaired his ability to tell right from wrong. The psychologist said it was an “affliction brought on by being spoiled by his parents, and it had skewed his moral compass.”
However, like most of the world everyone was scratching their heads, on how the spoiled rich kid — who avoided a ten year sentence by blaming his upbringing after a drunken joyride killed four people — could get away with such a crime.
Many argue it was his wealthy parents, who paid to have their son’s jail sentences dropped, and have him placed on probation.
However, everything changed when a video in 2015 showed Couch playing beer pong, a blatant probation violation. The fiasco resulted in Couch and his mother taking off for Mexico, staying on the run for weeks, and finally captured in December 2015 after using a cellphone to order Domino’s pizza.
Couch claimed his mother took him there against his will, and the judge did not buy it. He sentenced Couch to a two-year jail sentence; 180 days for each person killed. He was released from that sentence today.
Couch will remain under strict probation supervision, the county sheriff’s office has said, even with his 21st birthday being only nine days away.
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