Attorney: Affluenza teen Ethan Couch likely back in Texas by end of week

The Mexican lawyer for a Texas teenager who used an "affluenza" defense in a fatal drunken-driving accident says his client has dropped an appeal against deportation and will return to Texas to face charges.

Attorney Fernando Benitez said Tuesday that Ethan Couch formally ratified his decision to drop the appeal Monday.

Benitez expects a judge to close the case Tuesday, noting that would clear the way for Couch to return to Texas in one or two days.

He said Couch had decided not to continue with the constitutional appeal after reviewing his options.

Couch is being investigated for violating his 10-year probation sentence after killing four people in a drunk driving crash in 2013.

Ethan and his mother Tonya fled to the Mexican resort of Puerto Vallarta in December after prosecutors began investigating whether he'd violated his probation when he appeared to be in a beer pong party video that surfaced online in late 2015.

His mother was sent back to the U.S. and has since bonded out of jail, but Couch has been held at an immigration detention center since being detained in late December.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.