Lochte, along with his three teammates, initially claimed they were robbed at gunpoint by individuals posing as police officers while they were taking a taxi back to Rio’s Olympic Village from the French hospitality house on August 14, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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“. and the people of Brazil who welcomed us to Rio and worked so hard to make sure that these Olympic Games provided a lifetime of great new memories”.
The four USA gold medal-winning swimmers hoped to draw a line under the scandal that erupted when Lochte went public with a shocking report of how they were mugged on their way early Sunday back from a party in Rio de Janeiro.
The swimmers’ accusations were an embarrassment for Rio officials, and police quickly began questioning Lochte’s claims.
Lochte, who has six Olympic gold medals, claimed that the quartet had been robbed at gunpoint by someone impersonating a police officer when their taxi stopped to refuel.
Upon further investigation, including review of surveillance video, the police said the swimmers were intoxicated and had left their taxi to use the bathroom at a gas station. “An argument ensued between the athletes and two armed gas station security staff, who dislayed their weapons, ordered the athletes from their vehicles and demanded the athletes provide a monetary payment”.
Lochte said on Instagram and Twitter that it was “traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country” and “have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave”. Later on, Jimmy Feigen also agreed to pay almost $11,000 to a Brazilian charity as part of a settlement with a Rio judge.
The Public Ministry, a prosecutorial body, had requested a fine more than four times as high – 150,000 Reais or about $47,000.
The charity, the Reaction Institute, which brings sports to low-income communities and helped train Brazilian gold medalist judoka Rafaela Silva, said the money had been paid and would be used to fully enclose a judo arena near the City of God slum.
Through the justice system, Feigen apologised to the Brazilians and the authorities that had been involved in solving the case which has generated a lot of controversy in Brazil.
Bentz and Conger were pulled off a plan to the United States that evening so they could be questioned. Instead, they said Lochte had vandalized a local gas station early on Sunday and had an altercation with a security guard. Phelps arrived back on American soil Wednesday morning, just days after Lochte and three other Team USA swimmers became the focus of an alleged robbery gone wrong.
Bentz and Conger told police that Lochte lied about the situation in media interviews, according to text of the statements released by Rio police.
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The International Olympic Committee commission could sanction the athletes if they considered their behaviour violated the Olympic charter.
