Brain-injured teen receives $2 million in 'affluenza' case settlement

By Dana Ford and Suzanne Presto, CNN

updated 9:50 AM EDT, Thu May 8, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- The family of a teen critically injured when another teen, Ethan Couch, drove drunk last year has reached a settlement of more than $2 million.

The case made national headlines after a witness claimed Couch was a victim of "affluenza" -- the product of wealthy, privileged parents who never set limits for the Texas boy.

For the crimes of driving drunk and causing a crash -- which killed four people and critically injured two -- Couch received no jail time. He was ordered to go to a lockdown treatment facility and sentenced to 10 years' probation.

The settlement, reached this month, involves the case of Sergio Molina, who was riding in the back of Couch's truck the night of the accident. He suffered a brain injury and can no longer speak, or move. He is considered minimally responsive.

"They told us that, basically, that's as much as he's going to rehabilitate," Sergio's brother, Alex Lemus, told CNN last year.

In the six months since the accident, which took place in June, Lemus said medical bills had already topped $1 million.

The family filed the lawsuit against the Couch family and the father's company because Ethan was driving a company-owned truck.

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Brain-injured teen receives $2 million in 'affluenza' case settlement