Ryan Lochte cleared of all charges from 2016 incident in Rio de Janeiro
A Brazilian appeals court ruled Thursday that Ryan Lochte had not broken the law by exaggerating about what happened during the gas station incident from the 2016 Olympics, according to USA Today Sports.
Lochte was charged with falsely communicating a crime because of an interview he did with NBC in which he said he and three other members of the United States swim team were robbed at gun point at a gas station while returning to the Olympic Village.
The court decided that Lochte had not broken the law because Rio police instigated the investigation, not Lochte, according to USA Today Sports. They add that the decision has not been published yet and prosecutors will have 15 days to appeal the ruling.
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In the interview, Lochte said he had a gun put to his forehead and he and fellow swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen were robbed at a Shell gas station. The Rio police held a news conference a few days later and said the swimmers had vandalized the restroom in the service station.
An investigation by USA Today Sports found Lochte had exaggerated the incident, but the base of his story was true.
Lochte, 32, is expected to compete in the 2020 Olympics.
