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Judge Reduces Tonya Couch's Bond From $1 Million To $75,000

Rodger Mallison
/
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/pool photo
Tonya Couch in a picture taken Friday in Fort Worth.

A judge has sharply reduced the bond of the mother of a Texas teenager who used an "affluenza" defense after killing four people in a drunken wreck.

Tonya Couch's new bond was set Monday at $75,000, down from $1 million.

Tonya Couch was brought back to Texas last week after being caught with 18-year-old Ethan Couch in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta. She's now charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon.

State District Judge Wayne Salvant said Monday that her original bond was too high for the charge she faces. Salvant ordered Couch to wear a GPS monitor if she posts bond.

Ethan Couch, who remains in a Mexico City detention facility, drunkenly crashed into a crowd of people in June 2013, killing four people. He received 10 years' probation.

Son Steven McWilliams testified at a hearing Monday that his mother can't pay a bond that high.

According to an arrest warrant, Tonya Couch had taken $30,000 from a bank account and told Ethan's father he would never see them again. They fled after Ethan Couch was accused of potentially violating his probation.

Photo: Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram