{"id":94047,"date":"2016-12-15T18:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T23:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/?p=94047"},"modified":"2016-12-15T18:05:04","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T23:05:04","slug":"fred-couch-affluenza-teens-dad-convicted-pretending-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/fred-couch-affluenza-teens-dad-convicted-pretending-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred Couch, ‘Affluenza’ teen’s dad, convicted of pretending to be officer"},"content":{"rendered":"
The father of the North Texas teenager notorious for his “affluenza” defense in a deadly drunk-driving accident has been found guilty of impersonating a police officer.<\/p>\n
Authorities have said that 51-year-old Fred Couch showed them a badge and told them he was a reserve officer responding to a disturbance in 2014 in a small town outside Fort Worth, according to NBC DFW. He was charged with falsely identifying himself as a reserve officer for Lakeside police, which is a misdemeanor, according to the news station.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Couch was convicted and sentenced to 120 days in jail, but given a year of probation instead of time behind bars, a court clerk confirmed to The Washington Post.<\/p>\n
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Couch was a volunteer with Lakeside’s search-and-rescue team, but that the volunteers are not considered reserve officers.<\/p>\n
“He was trying to help his community,” defense attorney Scott Brown told jurors during the trial, according to the Star-Telegram. “How is that being above the law?”<\/p>\n
Couch’s then 16-year-old son, Ethan, made national news in 2013 when he killed four people during a drunk-driving accident. The teen was later discovered to be driving with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit and traces of Valium in his system when he crashed into passersby who had stopped to help a stranded motorist on a Texas roadway, authorities said.<\/p>\n
At trial, Ethan Couch’s lawyer argued that he was a spoiled, rich teenager whose privilege prevented him from distinguishing right from wrong – a condition the defense called “affluenza.” He was sentenced to drug-and-alcohol-free probation for 10 years as well as time in a rehabilitation center – a sentence many people considered too soft.<\/p>\n
His case resurfaced late last year after a video emerged online showing a young man who resembled then 18-year-old Ethan Couch engaging in a beer-pong game – a possible probation violation.<\/p>\n
Around the same time, he failed to show up for a probation meeting. It was soon discovered that Ethan Couch and his mother had fled to Mexico. They were detained in December 2015 in the resort of Puerto Vallarta and sent back to the United States. His mother, Tonya Couch, was charged with hindering apprehension of a felon but has been free on bond.<\/p>\n
As The Post reported earlier this year, Couch, now 19, was sentenced to 180 consecutive days in jail for each of his four counts of intoxication manslaughter.<\/p>\n