The American teenager derided for a defence of "affluenza" in the killing four people while driving drunk has arrived back in Texas after being deported from Mexico and been placed in juvenile detention.
After his flight landed on Thursday, Ethan Couch, 18, was seen with his hands behind his back being escorted by uniformed officers through the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
He fled to Mexico in December along with his mother after a video emerged on social media that likely showed Couch in violation of the probation deal reached in juvenile court that kept him out of prison for causing the deadly crash in 2013.
A white sport utility vehicle with tinted windows carrying Couch arrived at a Tarrant County juvenile detention centre about an hour after his arrival at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
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He faces a detention hearing on either Friday or Monday, at which a judge will determine whether to transfer the case from the juvenile system to the adult system, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County District Attorney's office said.
Couch was 16 when he was tried as a juvenile.
A psychiatrist testifying on his behalf said he had "affluenza," as his family's wealth had left him so spoiled that it impaired his judgment to tell right from wrong.
The affluenza diagnosis, not recognised by the American Psychiatric Association, was widely ridiculed.
"It's more than overdue for Couch to be held accountable after taking the lives of four people, and injuring several others," activist group Mothers Against Drunk Driving said in a statement.
If he is found to have violated the probation deal, Couch faces about four months behind bars.
His mother, Tonya Couch, faces up to 10 years in prison for helping her son flee to Mexico.
