April 15 (UPI) -- The Texas Supreme Court denied a request by "affluenza teen" Ethan Couch to be released from prison.

The state's high court denied Couch's request to have his two-year sentence invalidated on the grounds a judge didn't have the right to move his case to adult court.


Couch, now 20, was 16 when he killed four people in a 2013 drunk driving crash. During his trial, a psychologist for the defense said Couch was a product of "affluenza" -- a mental condition that resulted from his privileged upbringing which prevented him from being able to distinguish right from wrong.

Couch was sentenced to 10 years probation and ordered to stay away from drugs and alcohol. In December 2015, he fled to Mexico with his mother after a video surfaced purportedly showing him at a party where a beer-drinking game was being played, a possible parole violation. He and his mother, Tonya Couch, were found in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Dec. 28, 2015, after a two-week search.