American swimmers Jimmy Feigen (above) and Ryan Lochte, if convicted, could face up to 6 months in prison or a fine. (Photo Courtesy: Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com)
American swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen have been indicted in Brazil for “false reporting of a crime,” according to Brazil’s GloboNews.
The pair face between 1 and 6 months in jail or a fine if convicted. The two were among four American swimmers, including Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, who have not been indicted, involved in an altercation at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro earlier this week after finishing competition at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The crime was originally reported as a robbery, where Lochte said his taxi was pulled over by an unmarked police car and he and his compatriots were robbed at gun-point.
In video obtained by GloboTV, the group is shown in an altercation with gas station employees. According to Rio police, the altercation involved accusations by the gas station employees that the swimmers had vandalized a bathroom. Later that day (the incident happened early in the morning), the 32-year old Lochte, owner of 12 Olympic medals, told reporters that he was held up at gun-point after his mother apparently leaked the information to international media.
While Lochte has remained steadfast to his story, including in an interview on Wednesday evening with NBC’s Matt Lauer, Rio police say that no such robbery happened, and instead it was gas station security guards who confronted the group about alleged damage done to the bathroom facilities.
Rio police have confirmed that the security officers did have guns.
The owner of the gas station has not filed charges against the swimmers as of Thursday and so there are currently no charges for the property damage, which carries the same penalty guidelines as does the false reporting.
Lochte is the only of the four Americans who was able to leave the country before Rio police announced that the stories didn’t add up to evidence that they were finding. A Brazilian judge has ordered Feigen to surrender his passport (as well as Lochte, though Lochte had already left the country); while Bentz and Conger were pulled off a plane on Wednesday to be questioned by Brazilian police. During that questioning, which continued into Thursday, Bentz and Conger admitted that Lochte fabricated that the group was robbed.
Bentz and Conger are not expected to be indicted because they never filed any report about the alleged incident.
Lochte has not made a statement since this morning’s accusation by Rio police that the story was fabricated.
I think a lot of people don’t understand, the issue of money in developing countries. While the damage might seem insignificant to the Americans, the gas station worker would probably be told off by the owner & asked to pay from his own pocket for failing to stop the vandalism. For a man who probably earns as much as what would be a night out in America , that is a lot.
It’s being reported that Feigen is to pay $11,000 to charity and be allowed to leave Brazil in a deal to settle the dispute and avoid facing charges.
Lochte and Feigen should face justice, just like anybody else. They do not have diplomatic immunity, and it would set a good example to other travelling athletes if they submitted themselves to the justice system of their host country, and paid their dues. If that meant doing time in a Brazilian jail, then so be it.
Bentz and Conger should consider themselves lucky. What on earth were they thinking when they defied the Judges order to not leave the country by boarding the plane. USOC officials should also answer questions as to why they let them do this. Which official though that it was OK to let them flee the country in defiance of a court order?
Bottom line. Lochte is 32 and should be a leader of the Olympic team. Instead he’s a disgace. I hope he is removed from the National team pernamemtly. He’s was representing the United States not on his own personal playboy vacation. representing the United States comes with rules and responsibilites.
Brazilian spokesman said this was not true. This process takes more time.
So with both Conger and Lochte in the prelims… Ugh… Yet again, Lochte gets to be in the final.
What a huge, gigantic embarrassment for the United States. This will go down as Lochte, Bentz, Conger, and Feigen’s legacy. How sad. Mix too much alcohol with too much arrogance and this is where people end up.
I hope they all have to serve some time in a Rio jail. Maybe it will help them grow up.
Seriously doubt it. After Phelps’ second DUI conviction, who would have thought he would be flag bearer for the opening ceremonies? This news cycle is already dying — it’s no longer the lead story. Any good publicist will be able to spin a redemption story out of this. It happens all the time, and we lap it up.
Front page news on CNN, NYT, WSJ, BBC, and pretty much everywhere else. Of course, it will die down eventually – every news story does no matter how impactful. However, the manner in which these young men have helped define “American” (in a negative way) will not soon be forgotten.
Everybody makes mistakes, I get it. However, the ongoing lying and blaming of others is taking it to another level. If they had all just told the truth from the start, this would have amounted to nothing. Their behavior, in my opinion, only reinforces the way many other countries view Americans – as rich, spoiled, and morally lacking. As Olympians, these individuals are representing the USA on the world’s biggest… Read more »
Are you telling me a country that impeached its political leaders in an Olympic year, suppresses free speech, and has poop everywhere can’t be trusted to have a legitimate legal system?
In this particular case, Brazilian judicial system actually worked well in hauling the president to court for corruption.
Unlike in some countries.
The Senate voted to proceed on impeachment, not the judiciary. And this was Brazil’s anti-corruption candidate.
The president that was once arrested for bank robbery mind you.
Lochte should take a good cue from Phelps: Do a stint in Meadowbrook for whatever his addictions are (fame, and apparently alcohol relapse, for starters), haul the crazy family and coach out there for the Phelps-like family therapy to exorcise those demons, ditch the playboy model, find a good woman like Nicole, settle down, have a Boomer and grow up. Oh, and pick a hair color and stick with it!