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Jimmy Feigen, US Swimmer in Lochte Scandal, Pays to Leave Rio

They say the men – instead of being robbed at gunpoint – “were intoxicated, vandalized a bathroom, then were questioned by armed guards before they paid for the damage and left”, according to the AP.

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Police say United States swimmer Ryan Lochte and the three others had not been held at gunpoint, as Lochte initially claimed.

The scandal began, when were robbed at gunpoint during a night out in Rio.

USA swimmer Ryan Lochte earlier alleged that he and three other Olympic swimmers, including Feigen, were robbed at gunpoint by people claiming to be police officers.

Attorney Breno Melaragno told the AP early Friday that Feigen will donate 35,000 Brazilian reals to an unidentified “institution” as part of a deal struck with a Brazilian judge.

Costa said that Feigen’s passport would be returned and he will be free to leave the country after the payment is made.

The money will go to Instituto Reacao, a judo academy for low-income kids and teens who want to learn the sport, Melaragno said.

The other three have already left the country.

“No robbery was committed against these athletes”, Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso said in a news conference. However, when he spoke on the phone to Matt Lauer, he said they’d stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom when the alleged crime occurred.

The 26-year-old athlete’s passport was originally seized on Wednesday after a Brazilian judge ordered that Feigen and his teammate, Ryan Lochte, hand them over.

The saga is an embarrassment for American Olympians, who had otherwise dominated the games, and prompted an apology from U.S. Olympic officials. “The things that you do are going to be magnified, and the mistakes that you make are going to be really … they’re going to have a light shine on them in a way that’s going to make it very, very hard for you to overcome”.

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The U.S. Olympic Committee apologized this morning to Rio authorities for the incident. “They did not lie in their statements”.

Rio Swimming