DENIED! Texas Supreme Court blocks early release request from ‘affluenza teen’ Ethan Couch

On Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court refused to hear an early release request from “affluenza teen” Ethan Couch—meaning he’ll likely spend the remainder of his year-long sentence behind bars.

KXAS reported that the Court denied Couch’s appeal which was filed by his lawyers in March. Attorneys Reagan Wynn and Scott Brown unsuccessfully argued that state District Judge Wayne Salvant had no authority to jail Couch, 19, to 720 days last April, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

An administrative judge denied the pair’s motion to remove Judge Salvant from the case in September. In February, the 2nd Court of Appeals upheld the administrative judge’s decision.

The 19-year-old has been jailed since last year for violating the terms of his probation. According to the Associated Press, Couch and his mother, Tonya, fled to Mexico in December 2015 after a video surfaced of the teen playing the “beer pong” game with friends.

In 2014, the then-16-year-old was sentenced to 10 years’ probation after he drunkenly plowed his pickup truck into a group of people, killing four. A psychologist testified that the fatal 2013 crash was ultimately caused by Ethan’s affluenza—brought about by his rich parents who coddled him and failed to teach him right from wrong, according to the New York Daily News.

Ethan was subsequently apprehended in Mexico and tried as an adult. Judge Salvant sentenced the teen to two years in jail—six months for each person killed. Tonya was charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon and money laundering for allegedly helping her son leave the country.

The Daily News also pointed out that Ethan’s father was sentenced to a year of probation last year for impersonating a Texas police officer in 2014.

[Featured Image: Tarrant County Jail]