US swimmer Lochte's legal troubles mount in Brazil

[webfact]

US swimmer Lochte's legal troubles mount in Brazil 
MAURICIO SAVARESE, Associated Press

 

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian police charged American swimmer Ryan Lochte on Thursday with filing a false robbery report over an incident during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

 

A police statement said Lochte would be informed in the United States so he could decide whether to introduce a defense in Brazil. The indictment will also be sent to the International Olympic Committee's ethics commission, it said.

 

"The investigation was concluded on Thursday and Olympic American swimmer Ryan Lochte was indicted for the crime of falsely reporting a crime," the statement said.

 

It said the case was turned over to a special Brazilian court that has jurisdiction over crimes related to major sporting events. The court, which was established before Brazil hosted soccer's 2014 World Cup, is authorized to receive cases straight from the police when lesser charges are involved, without a need for prosecutors.

 

The swimmer's spokeswoman, Melissa Nathan, said Lochte had no comment.

 

During the games, Lochte initially said that he and fellow swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi by men with a police badge as they returned to the Olympic Village from a party Aug. 15. However, security video suggested the four actually faced security guards after vandalizing a gas station restroom.

 

Lochte left Brazil shortly after the incident. Three days later, local authorities took Conger and Bentz off an airliner heading to the United States so they could be questioned about the robbery claim. They were later allowed to leave Brazil, as was Feigen, after he also gave testimony. Feigen, who initially stood by Lochte's testimony, was not charged.

 

Lochte has since acknowledged that he was highly intoxicated and that his behavior led to the confrontation. It is not clear from the video whether a gun was ever pointed to the athletes.

 

Under Brazilian law, the penalty for falsely filing a crime report carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison. Lochte could be tried in absentia if he didn't return to face the charge.

 

The United States and Brazil have an extradition treaty dating back to the 1960s, but Brazil has a long history of not extraditing its own citizens to other nations and U.S. authorities could take the same stance if Lochte is found guilty.

 

That is currently the case of the head of Brazil's football confederation, Marco Polo del Nero, who faces charges in the wide-ranging scandal entangling international soccer's ruling body, FIFA. He has not travelled outside Brazil for more than a year to avoid being arrested by U.S. authorities somewhere else.

 

The charges in Brazil raise questions about the future for Lochte, who is planning to take time off from swimming but wants to return to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He has 12 Olympic medals, second only to Michael Phelps among U.S. male Olympians.

 

Lochte lost four major sponsors early this week over the controversy, including Speedo USA and Ralph Lauren. But on Thursday he picked up a new sponsor — Pine Bros. Softish Throat Drops. Pine Bros. said people should be more understanding of the swimmer and said he will appear in ads that say the company's product is "Forgiving On Your Throat."

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-26

[Kerryd]

He'll need those "Pine Bros. Softish Throat Drops" that are "Forgiving on the throat" if he ever ends up in Brazilian prison. (He may also want to invest in something that is "forgiving" for the other end as well.)

 

Chances are this will pretty much just fade away unless Brazil actually issues a warrant and goes to Interpol about it (which would restrict Lochte's travel outside of the US). Either that or he pleads guilty to a lesser charge and gets a slap on the wrist and everything is forgotten about (until the next major competition of course when everyone will be watching him like a hawk 24/7).

[ivan96822]

I understand that this was a misunderstanding...Pretty dumb of dude to try and make it out to be something other than it was...

[Navalator]

What a perfect example of a smart aleck kid self destructing.  He deserves all of the grief being thrown at him.

[JHolmesJr]

14 minutes ago, Navalator said:

What a perfect example of a smart aleck kid self destructing.  He deserves all of the grief being thrown at him.

 

I disagree…paul gascoigne is a good example of self destructing..not lochte…he's a smart ass who made a mistake while being drunk and later, panicked.

 

The brazilians now know that he has money so they will try to hassle him….anyway it was mrs. lochte who filed the report from what I hear.

 

Edited August 26, 2016 by JHolmesJr

[DipStick]

4 hours ago, ivan96822 said:

I understand that this was a misunderstanding...Pretty dumb of dude to try and make it out to be something other than it was...

 

He suggested that this was an armed robbery attempt. Facts as seen on TV news, he was badly intoxicated, him and his team mates trashed a toilet in a petrol (gas) station. Again let's not lose the word intoxicated, after trashing the toilet, they were confronted by a security guard who pulled a handgun on them.

now, perhaps under the influence they had not realised what they had done , but quickly sobered up when the gun was pulled and they may have thought in a different direction that this was in fact an attempted armed robbery and reported it as such.

i am certainly not impressed with what they did, and to be honest walking around places like Rio in the very early hours of the morning does indicate brain death, but hey a weapon was in the the mix and I would think a Brazilian court would be hard pushed to make a case against him stick.

[JetsetBkk]

17 minutes ago, DipStick said:

perhaps under the influence they had not realised what they had done , but quickly sobered up when the gun was pulled and they may have thought in a different direction that this was in fact an attempted armed robbery

 

Never in the history of ThaiVisa has a nickname been so appropriate.

 

 

[umbanda]

Was a minor disturbance and misunderstanding....and the guys were askied to pay $50 for the damages....

But.... drunk and spoiled... stupidity prevailed..and they decided for a confrontation....

The gas station security didn't reported to the police... easy to forget everything...but..not...them insisted in being stupid..and accused the POLICE of a FOREIGN country  of ROBBERY, on international  news.

Hard to believe....they didn't formally apologized for their action and keep insisting in their version of the events...

They deserve what they got from the Brazilian Police... the present consequences.....and what is coming.....

A $50  bill...already becomes millions in suspended sponsorship....

Stupidity is costly!

[DipStick]

25 minutes ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

Never in the history of ThaiVisa has a nickname been so appropriate.

 

 

Are you familiar with Brazil ? I worked in Sao Poulo with a team of engineers from the uk, our workshop was 20kms from our hotel base in Jardines, our hosts refused to let us travel between the two without TWO armed guards accompanying us. It was common practice in SP for vehicles not to stop at red traffic lights for fear of being robbed by weapon wielding thugs.

i am a passive polite person but to be ridiculed for a totally innocent user name by someone who has probably no experience of what ther are talking about is quite amusing.

[mike324]

Little punk is paying for it now - Speedos, Ralph Lauren, Gentle Hair Removal, and Airweave all drop their sponsorship. 

[DipStick]

And the BBC just reported that Brazil have confirmed they are pressing charges in court.

[SOTIRIOS]

....???...

 

...making a name for himself...???

[OJAS]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Brazil has a long history of not extraditing its own citizens to other nations

And not just its own citizens either. Ronnie Biggs was free to live there for years despite the UK requesting his extradition for the Great Train Robbery in the 60's!

[williamgeorgeallen]

too bad he was not in thailand. few hundred baht fine (wad of cash under the table) and a sorry wai and the world is all good again.

[klauskunkel]

7 hours ago, ivan96822 said:

I understand that this was a misunderstanding...Pretty dumb of dude to try and make it out to be something other than it was...

Not misunderstanding. Arrogance and lack of common sense were creating this incident.

[Andaman Al]

I think this is definitely getting carried away. Young guys, won a load of medals, the olympics finish they go and get wasted. Many on here would do the same. They screw up tell a story and Lochte thinks best to stick with it.............stupid!  BUT the Brazilians are now milking it when they have had a good olympics (surprising many). The guy should be made to offer a written apology to the security guy and the police and offer to pay 10K into a Brazilian charity of the courts choice and forget it. Many of you on TV have been drunk, and we must face the consequences, but destroying a sportsman life over something so idiotic is senseless. He has learned his lesson, he has been humiliated on national TV, didn't get his hero's welcome and lost millions in sponsorship. Enough already!

[stevenl]

7 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

I think this is definitely getting carried away. Young guys, won a load of medals, the olympics finish they go and get wasted. Many on here would do the same. They screw up tell a story and Lochte thinks best to stick with it.............stupid!  BUT the Brazilians are now milking it when they have had a good olympics (surprising many). The guy should be made to offer a written apology to the security guy and the police and offer to pay 10K into a Brazilian charity of the courts choice and forget it. Many of you on TV have been drunk, and we must face the consequences, but destroying a sportsman life over something so idiotic is senseless. He has learned his lesson, he has been humiliated on national TV, didn't get his hero's welcome and lost millions in sponsorship. Enough already!

I agree with you, provided he has learned his lesson. And judging from his feeble, insincere apology he has not.

[Rod Gold]

Lochte should be given an IQ test and be declared mentally unfit to stand trial.

[Kabula]

He will take in on the chin with losing sponsors and may be banned from future Olympic events as he should.

 

I don't believe he will ever be extradited over a false police report indictment.

 

I wonder if the Government will file a civil suit and allege loss of tourist revenue from the criminal allegations that went viral worldwide.  That would be a tough case to try and argue in my opinion.

 

I hope he has no future plans on returning!

[Ulic]

7 hours ago, DipStick said:

 

He suggested that this was an armed robbery attempt. Facts as seen on TV news, he was badly intoxicated, him and his team mates trashed a toilet in a petrol (gas) station. Again let's not lose the word intoxicated, after trashing the toilet, they were confronted by a security guard who pulled a handgun on them.

now, perhaps under the influence they had not realised what they had done , but quickly sobered up when the gun was pulled and they may have thought in a different direction that this was in fact an attempted armed robbery and reported it as such.

i am certainly not impressed with what they did, and to be honest walking around places like Rio in the very early hours of the morning does indicate brain death, but hey a weapon was in the the mix and I would think a Brazilian court would be hard pushed to make a case against him stick.

Don't muddle the issue with the facts. If he is tried he will be found guilty. Brazilians are

in deep need of as many scapegoats as possible. Empty stands, and now a huge bill

to pay. No tourists now, and none in the future. The Olympic legacy in Brazil is debt

and only debt.  

[ClutchClark]

Has anyone here read much about the Mayor of Rio? He is a criminal with very unfavorable ratings and he is exploiting this Lockte deal as much as he possibly can to shift the spotlight to someone else and who doesn't love some Imperislist bashing?

 

BTW, did anyone see the video of the swimmers outside taking a piss? Have you ever been to Latin America? Men pee everywhere in the middle of the day. Nobody would even have taken notice of a group of guys pissing at midnight except they were Americans and they have cash.

 

Has anyone actually seen the damaged door and soap dispenser? That ratty old service garage could have had a damaged dispenser or door for years. Don't any of you recall the amount of pollution floating in Rio waterways? The whole place is a dump.

 

For god sakes, this is Rio and several of you here are giving the place a level of legitimacy that it simply does not deserve--it is corrupt. 

 

And where do armed guards have any right to take money from alleged vandals? That is certsinly armed robbery. How does the security guy know what the cost of damages are? The security had the option to hold them until police arrived and the owners or authorities had a chance to preview and assess the damage. The security guard robbed the American swimmers at gun point--plain & simple. 

 

Then their corrupt legal sysyem held another swimmer captive until he forked over $11K.

 

There is all this anger here against the swimmers but seversl of you have lost the context that this is all happening in a thoroughly corrupt and dangerous destination. 

 

America should be rallying behind Lockte instead of supporting his being thrown to the wolves but right now everybody loves to hate the "Bro" mentality. 

Edited August 26, 2016 by ClutchClark

[JetsetBkk]

19 minutes ago, ClutchClark said:

America should be rallying behind Lockte instead of supporting his being thrown to the wolves but right now everybody loves to hate the "Bro" mentality. 

 

You do realise he has admitted causing damage, don't you?

 

The 20-year-old said the guards confronted them after they had urinated behind some bushes and Lochte had torn the metal-framed advertising poster from the wall. Lochte admitted to that in the interview on Saturday night.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/21/olympic-swimmer-ryan-lochte-admits-over-exaggerating-in-robbery-tale.html

[ClutchClark]

2 minutes ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

You do realise he has admitted causing damage, don't you?

 

 

 

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/21/olympic-swimmer-ryan-lochte-admits-over-exaggerating-in-robbery-tale.html

 

By your on post, Lockte admitted damaging a metal-framed advertising poster.

 

So what? 

 

The guard took more than enough cash off these swimmers at GUN PoINT to pay for a metal framed advertising poster to be mounted back on the wall.

 

Are you saying it was worth $11,000 and all of this crazy headline? 

 

Guys here say Thailand is corrupt...have any of these guys ever been to Brazil and most of Latin America? There it is more corrupt and more violent. Ten times more.

[Andaman Al]

12 minutes ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

You do realise he has admitted causing damage, don't you?

 

 

 

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/21/olympic-swimmer-ryan-lochte-admits-over-exaggerating-in-robbery-tale.html

 

Ah well that's it then. I guess if the US legal system is happy to send a 17yr old lad down for 35 yrs for credit card fraud on two cards then Lochte should be given 25 without parole for damaging a sign in a garage in a grossly corrupt city.

 

The first two mins is enough to get the idea.

 

 

Luckily it seems there have been so many complaints that the young man has been let out but now faces 35 yrs inside for even a driving violation in the future. The fact the US legal system even handed out the 35 year sentence is astonishing. So, no wonder Lochte has been thrown to the lions.

 

Edited August 26, 2016 by Andaman Al

[stevenl]

5 hours ago, ClutchClark said:

 

By your on post, Lockte admitted damaging a metal-framed advertising poster.

 

So what? 

 

The guard took more than enough cash off these swimmers at GUN PoINT to pay for a metal framed advertising poster to be mounted back on the wall.

 

Are you saying it was worth $11,000 and all of this crazy headline? 

 

Guys here say Thailand is corrupt...have any of these guys ever been to Brazil and most of Latin America? There it is more corrupt and more violent. Ten times more.

It's about filling a false police report.

 

Yes, it is all overdone, but he only has himself to blame for that.

[ClutchClark]

2 minutes ago, stevenl said:

It's about filling a false police report.

 

Yes, it is all overdone, but he only has himself to blame for that.

 

I have watched videos of Lochte...he is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Add some alcohol to that grey matter.

 

Then put yourself in his position with an armed individual pointing a gun at you and telling you to hand over all of your money before you are allowed to leave. 

 

In the US, where Lochte is from, the armed guard who took the money at gunpoint would be charged with armed robbery and the service garage would have been apologizing profusely for the guards overzealous and dangerous actions. Lochte would have been charged with vandalism of property under $100.

 

and in the US, none of the swimmers would have been fined $11,000. Basically a form of extortion--pay $11,000 or you are not allowed to leave the country. 

 

This entire matter is politically motivated.

 

 

[stevenl]

11 minutes ago, ClutchClark said:

 

I have watched videos of Lochte...he is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Add some alcohol to that grey matter.

 

Then put yourself in his position with an armed individual pointing a gun at you and telling you to hand over all of your money before you are allowed to leave. 

 

In the US, where Lochte is from, the armed guard who took the money at gunpoint would be charged with armed robbery and the service garage would have been apologizing profusely for the guards overzealous and dangerous actions. Lochte would have been charged with vandalism of property under $100.

 

and in the US, none of the swimmers would have been fined $11,000. Basically a form of extortion--pay $11,000 or you are not allowed to leave the country. 

 

This entire matter is politically motivated.

 

It really doesn't matter where he is from. He seems to have committed a crime, filing a false police report, in Brazil.

 

The guy who paid the 11 k could also have gone to court. Same as in many countries, you pay and can go, or go to court, in the mean time stay in country.

 

PR motivated, sure, but politically motivated, no.

[daveAustin]

But it's not the US is it. If Americans want to be arrogant abroad, they should be prepared for the consequences. Deserves all he gets.

[ClutchClark]

3 minutes ago, stevenl said:

It really doesn't matter where he is from. He seems to have committed a crime, filing a false police report, in Brazil.

 

The guy who paid the 11 k could also have gone to court. Same as in many countries, you pay and can go, or go to court, in the mean time stay in country.

 

PR motivated, sure, but politically motivated, no.

 

Most certsinly it does. Where one is from strongly influences ones perception on a set of events.

 

Simply look at the millions of posts on TVF where members look at events here through the experiences and norms of their own country. 

 

As I have already said, in the US the guard would have been arrested for his actions. It is completely reasonable for Lochte to have interpretted that situation of having a gun pointed at him and being instructed to turn over all of his money as armed robbery....because that is exactly what it was.

 

And this is certsinly politically motivated by the Rio mayor who throughly enjoys getting the spotlight off of himself for a few minutes. I encourage you to do a bit of background on him. In Latin America, the days of Imperialism are still brought up quite often to stir up nationalist sentiment. You are aware of this much?

[Boon Mee]

There seems to be more than a whiff of America-bashing with the motivation on those Brazilians to keep going after this guy.

Give it a rest.  He and the other boys already apologized and paid the fine.

Time to move on...