U.S. Olympic swimmer Jimmy Feigen has made a decision to settle a dispute over an alleged armed robbery during the Rio Olympics by paying almost $11,000 to a Brazilian charity.
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Feigen’s Rio lawyer Breno Melaragno Costa says the swimmer met with a judge and other officials at a police station and agreed to donate 35,000 Reals (about $10,800 USD) to Reaction Institute, a Brazilian charity, according to ABC News.
In Brazil, a donation can be accepted instead of criminal prosecution for minor offences, but it has not been confirmed what charge Feigen was facing. The swimmers actually caused a fight in a gas station close to the Olympic Village as they arrived drunk and ended up brawling with the security guards after damaging property inside the shop.
Police earlier announced that the four swimmers had not been held at gunpoint after a night of partying, as two of them had claimed.
The scandal blew up after swimmer Ryan Lochte apparently lied about the incident, telling the media he had been robbed at gunpoint.
Bentz and Conger answered questions for several hours at a Rio police station Thursday before flying out.
The US Olympic Committee (USOC) also apologised to Brazil for the swimmers’ behaviour.
“I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that am sorry to my teammates, my fans, my fellow competitors, my sponsors, and the hosts of this great event”, he wrote. “They were not victims of the crimes they claimed”, Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso said during a news conference.
The three other swimmers in the vehicle tried to leave as quickly as possible because they feared Lochte would cause more damage, G1 said, quoting from the revised testimony. “I refused, I was like, ‘We didn’t do anything wrong, so – I’m not getting down on the ground'”.
During their testimony, the two said they asked the taxi driver to stop because Lochte needed to use the bathroom.
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The incident followed a series of muggings and armed robberies of high-profile athletes and visitors in Rio, including two government ministers – security scares that detracted from the image Games organisers hoped to portray.
