GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — A teen fugitive from Texas known for using an "affluenza" defense was granted a three-day delay in deportation on Wednesday, the same day he and his mother were scheduled to be sent back to the U.S., according to a Mexican official. 
 
 This Dec. 28, 2015 photo released by Mexico's Jalisco state prosecutor's office shows who authorities identify as Ethan Couch, after he was taken into custody in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. U.S. authorities... (Associated Press) 
 
 An official with Mexico's Migration Institute told Associated Press that 18-year-old Ethan Couch won a three-day court injunction. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he or she wasn't authorized to be quoted by name. 
 
 It wasn't immediately clear if Couch's mother, Tonya Couch, also would be granted a delay. Both had been scheduled to fly back to Houston on Wednesday evening after authorities said a phone call for pizza led to their capture in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta. They were being held at immigration offices in Guadalajara. 
 
 Couch's attorneys did not immediately return calls for comment. 
 
 A U.S. Marshals Service agent tipped local authorities off Monday to the location of Couch — who was on juvenile probation after killing four people in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck — and his mother, according to a police report issued by the Jalisco state prosecutors' office. Couch disappeared as authorities investigated whether he had violated the terms of his probation. 
 
 Mexican police say the fugitive "affluenza" teenager and his mother spent three days in a rented condo at a resort development in Puerto Vallarta before finding an apartment in a less glitzy area where they were found by police. 
 
 During the sentencing phase of Couch's trial in Texas, a defense expert argued that his wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility — a condition the expert termed "affluenza." The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew ridicule. 
 
 According to the police report, one of the Couches' telephones had been used to order delivery from Domino's Pizza to a condominium complex in Puerto Vallarta's old town, far from the glitzy resorts of the city's newer section. 
 
 Agents from the prosecutors' office went to the complex, where a tourism operator told them that the people who had occupied the condo were asked to vacate because the owners were coming to stay, the report said. The Couches then moved to an apartment, and the agents set up a surveillance operation in the surrounding streets. 
 
 On Monday evening, detectives approached two people on a street matching the Couches' description. The police report said they showed an "evasive attitude," gave inconsistent stories about their names and failed to provide proof of their legal migratory status in Mexico. 
 
 "They were confusing about their names and mentioned they had no identification and no immigration documents," the report said. 
 
 They were taken into custody and handed over to immigration officials. 
 
 Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tuesday that the Couches had prepared to be gone a while, even dyeing Couch's blond hair black. 
 
 "They had planned to disappear. They even had something that was almost akin to a going-away party before leaving town," Anderson said. He would not give details about the event, including how many people attended. 
 
 Anderson said Couch and his mother apparently crossed the border in her pickup and drove to Puerto Vallarta. It was not clear whether they had any accomplices. 
 
 No immediate charges were planned for others who may have known about or assisted with the flight plan, Anderson said. He said authorities have no evidence that Couch's father, who owns a sheet metal factory in North Texas, was involved. 
 
 The sheriff has said he believes the two fled in late November after a video surfaced that appears to show Couch at a party where people were drinking. Authorities had begun searching for the pair after Ethan Couch missed a mandatory appointment with his probation officer on Dec. 10. 
 
 If found to be drinking, Couch's probation could be revoked and he could face up to four months in jail. Once returned to Texas, Couch will be held in a Tarrant County facility until a probation violation hearing Jan. 19. 
 
 Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said that at the hearing she plans to ask a judge to transfer Ethan Couch's case to adult court. Couch would then face up to 120 days in an adult jail, followed by 10-year probation. If he violates probation, he could face up to 10 years in prison per death, Wilson said. 
 
 If the judge declines to transfer Couch to adult court, Wilson will ask that his probation be revoked, in which case he could be held in a juvenile facility until his sentence expires when he turns 19 next April. 
 
 Anderson said an arrest warrant was being issued for Tonya Couch on charges of hindering an apprehension, a third-degree felony that carries a sentence of two to 10 years in prison. 
 
 Couch was driving drunk and speeding on a road south of Fort Worth in June 2013 when he crashed into a disabled SUV off to the side, killing four people and injuring several others, including passengers in his pickup truck. 
 
 He pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury. A judge sentenced him in juvenile court to 10 years' probation and a stint in a rehabilitation center. 
 
 Greg Coontz, a Burleson, Texas, attorney representing the family of one of the victims of the crash, said Tuesday that his clients looked forward to seeing the Couches face the consequences of their actions. 
 
 "I can't think of a worse attempt to evade punishment," he said. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Emily Schmall reported from Fort Worth, Texas. Associated Press reporters E. Eduardo Castillo, Peter Orsi and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report. 

 Ethan Couch, tracked to Mexico after violating his probation in the deaths of four people in 2013 while he was driving drunk, may not be returning to Fort Worth from Mexico soon, authorities said Wednesday. 
 
 But his mother, Tonya Couch, 48, who drove with her 18-year-old son to Puerto Vallarta, where they were detained Monday, was put on a plane for Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, a Mexican official told The Associated Press. 
 
 Tonya Couch arrived at Los Angeles International Airport in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and was taken in handcuffs through the terminal to an unmarked Dodge Charger early Thursday morning, AP reported. She was wearing blue street clothes and looked away from cameras as she walked, flanked by two marshals. 
 
 A National Immigration Institute official said Tonya Couch was sent home because immigration authorities did not receive a judge’s injunction like the one that temporarily blocked the deportation of her son. 
 
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 It was unclear why she was brought to Los Angeles instead of DFW, where she and her son live and where he was on probation for the 2013 drunken-driving crash. U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Eugene Hwang said he could not reveal any details about her trip through California or say how long she might remain here, citing security concerns in transporting someone in custody. 
 
 Officer Norma Eisenman said she was picked up by the LAPD's fugitive task force shortly after 1:30 a.m. Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport. She will be held until U.S. marshals arrive to take her to Texas, Eisenman said. 
 
 Is anyone surprised the Couch duo are putting up legal fight to not return and face justice? Not me. Will it never end? #EthanCouch — Dee Anderson (@SheriffAnderson) December 30, 2015 
 
 Ethan Couch was taken to Mexico City late Wednesday, the official said. The decision to move Couch was made because the Mexico City facility for detaining migrants is larger and better equipped to hold someone for days or weeks. The official would not say if he was being moved by air or ground. 
 
 Federal and local authorities referred questions on Tonya Couch’s deportation to U.S. marshals, who led the cross-border hunt for Ethan Couch. Marshals’ spokeswoman Laura Vega said agency policy was not to comment on prisoner movements. 
 
 A spokeswoman with the Tarrant County district attorney’s office said she could not confirm AP’s report. 
 
 Earlier Wednesday at a news conference in Houston, Richard Hunter, chief deputy for the U.S. Marshals Service in South Texas, said that the three-day court injunction granted to Ethan Couch will likely take at least two weeks to resolve. 
 
 Hunter said both mother and son filed separate writs of amparo, which sends the case to immigration court. That would likely keep them in Mexico for at least two weeks because the writs “take the decision out of a lower-level agency and asks that a higher authority deport them,” Hunter said. 
 
 It was not immediately clear why Tonya Couch was not included in the judge’s injunction. 
 
 Also, it was not clear whether she was escorted by U.S. marshals or whether she was deported without an escort. 
 
 If Couch arrived unescorted, U.S. Customs officers would check her name in the computer system like any arriving passenger and detain her if they found the Tarrant County arrest warrant, said Rob Pedregon, a Los Angeles International Airport police spokesman. 
 
 If a marshal is with Couch, they would proceed to the next destination like any traveler, he said. Airport police would not routinely track the arrival. 
 
 Five nonstop flights from Guadalajara were scheduled to land at LAX on Wednesday night. 
 
 Writ of amparo 
 
 Ethan and Tonya Couch fled Tarrant County at least two weeks ago. 
 
 Ethan Couch is serving 10 years on probation for killing four people and injuring several others in a 2013 drunken driving crash in southern Tarrant County. 
 
 An arrest warrant was issued for Tonya Couch accusing her of hindering the apprehension of her son, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison. 
 
 Hunter said that Mexican immigration agents detained the Couches in Puerto Vallarta after going to an address provided by U.S. officials. Jalisco state prosecutor Eduardo Almaguer Ramirez said U.S. authorities knew the mother and son were in the beach resort town because of a phone call to Domino’s Pizza, The Associated Press reported. 
 
 The two were asked during the “encounter” with Mexican immigration officials if they were Mexican citizens. The agents determined they could be deported. But the amparo sends the case to an immigration court to decide whether the agents’ decision was correct. Hunter said amparo cases typically take two weeks to two months. 
 
 Hunter said he didn’t know how the Couches were able to contact attorneys in Mexico, but that several lawyers’ names were included on the Mexican legal paperwork. 
 
 Ethan Couch’s lawyers in the U.S. released a statement Wednesday saying they don’t represent him in Mexico, and don’t represent Tonya Couch “in any capacity.” 
 
 Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said he was informed about 8 a.m. Wednesday that the Couches weren’t returning to Texas as planned. 
 
 “They’re trying to fight being brought back somehow,” Anderson said. “It’s just a continuing string of what we’ve seen all along. We’re patient people. We’ll be waiting.” 
 
 Father ‘cooperating’ 
 
 According to ABC News, Ethan Couch’s father issued a statement through his lawyer saying he’s cooperating with authorities. 
 
 “Fred Couch has been cooperating with officials from the Tarrant County District Attorneys Office and the U.S. Marshals Service in their search for Ethan,” the statement from Lance Evans reads, according to ABC News. 
 
 “He is very appreciative of efforts by these and other agencies to safely locate his son. Because of Ethan’s pending legal issues, Mr. Couch will have no additional comment at this time.” 
 
 Fred and Tonya Couch were divorced in 2007, public records show. 
 
 On Aug. 10, Tonya Couch sold her 3,964-square-foot house at 1719 Burleson Retta Road in Burleson, deed records show. The house, built in 1974, sits on six acres. 
 
 She and Fred Couch bought the property in 2000, but the deed was transferred into Tonya’s Couch’s name only in 2007, according to deed records. 
 
 The Tarrant Appraisal District values the house at $343,000. 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK Couch's mother Tonya fled to Mexico with him to avoid possible probation revocation after a video surfaced of the teen at a beer party. David Kentdkent@star-telegram.com 
 
 Couch’s sentencing 
 
 State District Judge Jean Boyd, who is now retired, sentenced Couch to probation on four counts of intoxication manslaughter in December 2013. Couch was also ordered to enter a “lockdown” addiction treatment facility and not to drive or use alcohol or drugs for 10 years. 
 
 Prosecutors had asked that Couch be sentenced to 20 years in a state juvenile lockup. 
 
 During a hearing in February 2014, Boyd told the families that her decision had nothing to do with a psychologist’s comment about “affluenza” during his testimony for the defense. 
 
 The stiffest punishment Ethan Couch can receive for fleeing the country while on probation is several months in jail, Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said Tuesday. 
 
 Because Couch is on juvenile probation, any punishment would be limited to the terms of probation set in juvenile court. The terms don’t expire until he turns 19 in April. 
 
 A hearing to transfer his case to an adult court is scheduled for Jan. 19. The change to adult status would extend his time on probation 
 
 Staff reporters Ryan Osborne, Monica S. Nagy, Bud Kennedy, Sandra Baker and Deanna Boyd contributed to this report, which includes material from The Associated Press.
– "Affluenza teen" Ethan Couch was granted a three-day delay in his deportation from Mexico Wednesday, the AP reports. Originally, the Texas 18-year-old and his mother Tonya Couch were scheduled to be returned to the US Wednesday; it's not yet clear if Tonya Couch has been granted the same delay. Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson says he was told that the Couches' attorney filed a "legal writ" to prevent the pair's deportation. "Couch and his mother cannot be deported from Mexico until legal matters are resolved," a US Marshal’s Service spokeswoman tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "We simply do not know when Ethan and Tonya Couch will be returned to the US." "Is anyone surprised the Couch duo are putting up legal fight to not return and face justice? Not me. Will it never end?" tweeted Anderson Wednesday. But, he tells reporters, this behavior is "just a continuing string of what we’ve seen all along. We're patient people. We’ll be waiting." The exact legal means used to delay deportation is not clear, but an attorney not involved in the case says a "writ of amparo" was likely filed, which would mean that the Couches "think their rights protected by the Mexican courts are being violated" by the deportation proceedings. Couch, who fled the country after a video surfaced allegedly showing him violating his probation by drinking, killed four people in a drunk-driving crash in 2013. Upon his eventual return to the US, he faces just four months behind bars.