Bond reduced for mom of 'affluenza teen' after son says she has no money

A judge on Monday reduced the bond for Tonya Couch, mother of "affluenza teen" Ethan Couch, after her older son said he is responsible for her legal bills.

Originally, prosecutors deemed Tonya Couch a flight risk, and her bond was $1 million. In a Fort Worth, Texas, courtroom, Steven McWilliams said he was going to have to pay his mother's legal bills, and the judge decided to lower the bond to $75,000. Tonya and Ethan Couch made headlines in 2013, when Ethan Couch, then 16, received 10 years probation following a drunken driving accident that left four people dead and nine injured. A witness for the defense said because his parents were rich and set no boundaries, Ethan Couch suffered from "affluenza."

After video surfaced appearing to show Ethan Couch with alcohol in violation of his probation, authorities say Ethan and Tonya Couch fled from Texas to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, early in December; in court, McWilliams said his mother used a pickup truck belonging to her ex-husband's company to make her escape. Officials also say before they left, Tonya Couch cut all ties to Ethan Couch's father, and took $30,000 from a bank account. Tonya and Ethan Couch were arrested in Puerto Vallarta several weeks after their disappearance, and Tonya Couch is now charged with hindering apprehension of her son, a Class C felony, NBC News reports. Ethan Couch is still in a Mexican jail, fighting extradition to the U.S., where he faces jail time for violating probation.

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