Tonya Couch appears in court. (Getty)
Tonya Couch, the so-called “Affluenza Mom,” has negative $99 billion in her bank account, her eldest son told a judge Monday in an effort to get his mother’s bail reduced.
Steven McWilliams, the half-brother of Ethan Couch, testified that the last time he saw her bank account, she was severely in the red. Tonya Couch, 48, was arrested along with her fugitive son, Ethan, in Mexico, where authorities say they fled after Ethan violated the terms of his probation in Texas. Ethan Couch was convicted of killing four people in a 2013 DUI crash, but was not given any prison time after his attorneys argued his “affluenza” had caused him to commit the crime.
Watch McWilliams’ testimony below:
Watch “affluenza mom” Tonya Couch’s eldest son testify that his mother can’t post a 1 million dollar bond.
Tonya Couch was being held on $1 million bail after being extradited back to the United States. A judge lowered her bail to $75,000 on Monday, and said she would have to wear an ankle bracelet and turn in her passport if released. Ethan Couch remains in Mexico, where he is fighting extradition.
Tonya Couch. (Getty)
Couch’s attorneys had her other son testify Monday as they argued her bail should be reduced. McWilliams said his mother could stay with him if she was released. Couch’s attorneys say her bank accounts are frozen and she is virtually broke.
Prosecutors say Tonya Couch, who is divorced from Ethan’s father, withdrew $30,000 from her bank account and had a “going away party” before driving to Mexico with her son.
Couch earlier complained about the conditions in the Tarrant County Jail, where she is being held, WFAA-TV reported. Sheriff Dee Anderson said she has said it’s too bright in her cell to sleep. Anderson told reporters “it’s jail, not a resort.”
