MEXICO CITY (AP) — The mother of the Texas teenager known for using an "affluenza" defense in a fatal drunken-driving accident has been deported back to the U.S., according to the Associated Press.
The report came just hours after the US Marshals said it could take weeks or months to get Ethan and Tonya Couch extradited from Mexico.
Ethan remains behind bars in Mexico.
The National Immigration Institute official said Tonya Couch left late Wednesday afternoon on a flight from Guadalajara, Mexico, to Los Angeles. The person was not authorized to discuss the case and revealed the information on condition of anonymity.
The official said she was sent home because immigration authorities did not receive a judge's injunction like the one that temporarily blocked the deportation of her son. For now he will remain in custody in Guadalajara.
Richard Hunter, chief deputy U.S. marshal for the southern district of Texas, said during a news conference in Houston earlier Wednesday that a three-day injunction granted to Ethan Couch would likely take at least two weeks to resolve.
Authorities believe the 18-year-old, sentenced only to probation for the 2013 wreck in Texas, fled to Puerto Vallarta with his mother as prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation.
The ruling by the Mexican court could lead to a weeks-long legal process if a judge decides the younger Couch has grounds to challenge his deportation based on arguments that kicking him out of the country would violate his rights. The judge has three days to consider Couch's appeal.
The Couches were taken into custody Monday after authorities said a phone call for pizza led to their capture in the Mexican resort city. They were being held by immigration officials in Guadalajara.
During the sentencing phase of Couch's 2013 trial, 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.