US Swimmer Jimmy Feigen May Collect Passport After Paying $11K to Avoid Prosecution in Rio

A four-hour meeting with authorities led to the agreement.

ByABC News
August 19, 2016, 6:29 PM

— -- U.S. Olympic swimmer Jimmy Feigen is free to collect his passport and leave Brazil after he made an $11,000 donation to a Brazilian charity in an effort to resolve a dispute over claims of being robbed in Rio de Janeiro that authorities say were made up.

During a court hearing, Feigen issued an apology to Brazil, the Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro said in a statement.

Feigen's lawyer in Rio, Breno Melaragno Costa, announced the agreement early Friday morning, hours after he sat down with a judge and officials from the prosecuting ministry at a police station in Rio for four hours on Thursday.

Feigen agreed to donate 35,000 Reals, or roughly $11,000, to a Brazilian charity called Reaction Institute.

Feigen is the last of the four U.S. swimmers caught up in the controversy over an alleged robbery remaining in Brazil. Costa said that Feigen's passport would be returned and he will be free to leave the country after the payment is made.

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