Mom of ‘Affluenza' Teen Returns to North Texas, in Jail

The mother of a fugitive teen who used an "affluenza" defense after killing four people in a drunken crash returned to North Texas to face charges Thursday.

Tonya Couch arrived by plane at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday at about 1:30 p.m. after an extradition hearing two days earlier in Los Angeles.

LA County sheriff's spokesperson Nicole Nishida said Couch left jail at 5 a.m. Thursday.

Couch, 48, is charged in Texas with hindering the apprehension of a felon and is being held at the Tarrant County Lon Evans Correction Center on a $1 million bond. There is a bond reduction hearing scheduled Monday at 1:30 p.m. Couch's attorney's are expected to request her bond be lowered from $1 million to $15,000.

Couch Returns to North Texas

Couch arrived at the Tarrant County Jail in a sheriff's van with Sheriff Dee Anderson riding in the front seat. She was shackled as she exited the van.

Anderson told reporters he did talk to her during the transport from the airport to the jail, but never about the charge she faces but about administrative issues with her care at the jail.

"She was very quiet, very reserved, she was respectful," said Anderson. "Surprisingly she was very appreciative, she said that he deputies on the way back had treated her as well as she ever expected to be treated."

When asked if she wanted to accept any offers for jailhouse interviews, Anderson said, "She said not only no, but really no."

She is expected to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Friday in state District Judge Wayne Salvant's court.

Couch agreed on Tuesday to be sent from California to Texas.

Earlier this week, her attorneys released a statement saying she had done nothing illegal and wanted to get back to Texas as soon as possible.

"While the public may not like what she did, may not agree with what she did, or may have strong feelings against what she did, make no mistake — Tonya did not violate any law of the State of Texas and she is eager to have her day in court," lawyers Stephanie K. Patten and Steve Gordon said in the statement.

She was flown to Los Angeles last week after being deported from Mexico, where she and her 18-year-old son, Ethan, were arrested. Ethan Couch remains detained in Mexico City.

Authorities believe the pair fled there in November as Texas prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation in a car crash that killed four people.

NBC 5's Kevin Cokely and Holley Ford contributed to this report.

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