Ryan Lochte Cleared of Criminal Charge by Brazilian Court
U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte is finally in the clear after a Brazilian court dismissed the criminal case filed against him.
It can be remembered that during the 2016 Rio Olympics, Lochte claimed that he and three other U.S. swimmers were robbed at gunpoint by armed men wearing police badges at a petrol station in Rio de Janeiro.
But after much investigation by the Brazilian police, it was later revealed that Lochte had fabricated most of the story. CCTV footage also captured Lochte along with fellow swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen getting into a confrontation with security guards at the petrol station.
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The 32-year-old was then charged with filing a false robbery report. If prosecuted, Lochte would have received up to 18 months of prison time, the Associated Press reported.
Lochte then released an apology and admitted that they were intoxicated during the incident. With this admission, the athlete lost several sponsorships and was suspended from the U.S. national swim team for 10 months.
Now, an appellate court in Brazil confirmed that the case against the Olympian has been dismissed citing that no law had been broken as the investigation was first initiated by the Brazilian authorities and not Lochte. Furthermore, his previous interview with NBC does not count as a false report.
"We are pleased that the court has finally dismissed the criminal prosecution against Mr. Lochte, while also acknowledging that he committed no crime while in Brazil. We are hopeful that the prosecution accepts the court's decision so that this story can finally be put to rest," Jeff Ostrow, Lochte's attorney, said in a statement.
Lochte's suspension officially ended this July and the swimmer is finally able to go back into training dedicating the 2020 Olympics to Caiden, his newborn son with model Kayla Rae Reid.
