Brazilian police have finally put to rest claims that alleged armed robbers disguised as police officers assaulted U.S. Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen at gunpoint.
The entire story is false, according to the chief of Civil Police in Rio, Fernando Veloso.
“Their claim that they are a victim of an assault or robbery or any kind of violence is not true,” said Veloso.
So what is the consequence for lying and distracting the world from the final week of the Olympic games?
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Brazilian police are recommending an indictment be passed down for Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen for falsifying a police report, says ABC News.
Lochte, 32, has managed to evade Brazilian police after boarding a flight back to the United States on Monday.
The remaining three swimmers, who were asked to temporarily surrender their passports, have given Brazilian authorizes revised statements of the alleged robbery. Two of the swimmers told police Lochte made up the assault story.
Jeff Ostrow, the lawyer of the highly decorated athlete, insists that, “This [robbery] happened the way he [Lochte] described it,” he told AP news.
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Under Brazilian law, a judge can either accept or reject the police’s indictment. If the judge rejects the indictment, the case will be dropped, Fox News reports.
If the judge decides to move forward with the indictment, Lochte and his teammates may be fined or could spend up to six months in jail.