'Affluenza' Teen Ethan Couch Drops Extradition Appeal, Will Return to the U.S., Says Lawyer

Fernando Ben tez says his client could be returned to Texas in a matter of days

Photo: Jalisco St. Prosecutors Office

In a matter of days, Ethan Couch could be back on American soil.

The Mexican lawyer representing the 18-year-Texan dubbed the “affluenza teen” by the media confirms to PEOPLE his client has rescinded his appeal against deportation – a move that a judge ratified Tuesday morning.

After spending several weeks on the run with his mother Tonya, Couch was apprehended by police late last month in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta.

Couch was 16 when he killed four pedestrians in a 2013 drunk driving accident. The teen was spared jail time and sentenced to probation after his defense attorney successfully argued his client suffered from “affluenza” because of his wealthy upbringing.

Investigators in Texas allege Couch and his mom went on the lam soon after potentially incriminating video footage appeared on Twitter showing the teen attending a party where drinking games were being played.

Couch’s 10-year probation sentence prohibits him from driving a car, doing drugs or drinking alcohol.

Fernando Ben tez, Couch’s lawyer, tells PEOPLE his client’s “stay was lifted yesterday,” meaning “there is no legal impediment for him to be deported from Mexico back to the U.S.”

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Ben tez did not discuss what prompted his client’s decision to drop his appeal, but he noted Couch could return to America “as soon as the Mexican immigration authorities wrap up the deportation procedure and as logistic arrangements allow.”

Ben tez says there is no set date for Couch’s impending extradition, but tells PEOPLE “we expect him back in Texas within the next couple of days.”

The U.S. Marshals Service tracked Couch and his mother to a Mexico apartment where one of them used a cell phone to place a food order.

Couch’s mother has been charged by Texas authorities with hindering the apprehension of her fugitive son and was released earlier this month on $75,000 bail.

The terms of her release call for Couch to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. She must also live at her older son s home, a judge ruled.