‘Affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch transferred to adult jail in Fort Worth

Ethan Couch, who came home to Fort Worth in handcuffs last week, was transferred from juvenile detention to Tarrant County’s maximum-security jail for adults on Friday.

The 18-year-old known as the “affluenza teen” was placed in isolation at the downtown Lon Evans Corrections Center, Sheriff Dee Anderson said.

The jail’s booking area was cleared of other inmates while Couch was being processed, he said.

Jail officials have heard no specific threats against Couch, but Anderson said they are aware of comments on social media, and are concerned that an adult inmate might try to harm the teenager with a high media profile, Anderson said.

“Our job is protect him, to protect anybody in our custody,” Anderson said.

At an afternoon news conference, the sheriff also said he’s “more comfortable” now that Couch is in an environment more secure than the juvenile lockup, characterizing the teen as a flight risk.

Couch had been in juvenile detention since Jan. 28, when he was returned to Fort Worth after evading authorities for more than a month in Mexico.

Couch, who turns 19 in April, remains under the jurisdiction of juvenile court at least until an adult certification hearing scheduled for Feb. 19.

On Friday, family District Judge Timothy Menikos, presiding judge of the county’s juvenile courts, ordered Couch moved to the adult jail.

Most of those in juvenile detention are younger than Couch, Anderson said.

“The only change in his status was his housing,” Anderson said.

Jail officials received “only a few minutes warning” that Couch was being transferred, Anderson said. He described Couch as very compliant, soft-spoken and “agreeable with what was going on.”

He and Couch discussed the efforts his officers are making to keep him safe, Anderson said.

Couch is serving 10 years of probation for a June 2013 drunken driving crash that killed four people and injured others.

Menikos’ predecessor, family District Judge Jean Boyd, sentenced Couch to probation and addiction treatment at a lockdown facility, which turned out to be the state mental hospital in Vernon. He spent eight months there, relatives of victims told the Star-Telegram.

Prosecutors had asked that he be sentenced to 20 years in a state lockup.

During a hearing in February 2014, Boyd told the victims’ families that her decision had nothing to do with the “affluenza” comment made by a psychologist during testimony on Couch’s behalf.

On Dec. 2, a video surfaced showing someone who looked like Couch at a beer pong party, which could lead to his probation being revoked. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, on Dec. 3, Couch’s probation officer asked him to come in for a drug test but he did not respond and did not appear for a scheduled meeting with the probation officer on Dec. 10.

Tarrant County juvenile authorities issued a directive to apprehend the teen for possibly violating his probation. Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, had driven to Mexico where they were caught on Dec. 28 in Puerto Vallarta.

Couch’s next hearing is set for Friday.

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 2:32 PM with the headline "‘Affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch transferred to adult jail in Fort Worth."