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RIO 2016
Ryan Lochte

Ryan Lochte's attorney: Public can judge swimmer

David Meeks
USA TODAY

Ryan Lochte’s attorney said the swimmer will accept the penalties handed down by the United States Olympic Committee. But Jeff Ostrow said he’ll leave it to the public to judge whether Lochte was treated fairly.

Ryan Lochte was suspended on Thursday for 10 months by the USOC and USA Swimming.

“We accept the decision and believe it is in everyone’s best interest to move forward,” Ostrow told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. “Ryan is grateful to be a member of the U.S. Olympic team and USA Swimming.  He recognizes his lapse in judgment, and is looking forward to continuing his training, volunteer work with kids and resuming his swimming career next year with an eye toward representing his country at the 2020 Olympic games in Japan.”

Ostrow was careful to separate his own opinion from Lochte’s, as he said the swimmer regrets any mistakes he made. But Ostrow raised questions about whether Lochte’s sins warranted myriad sanctions — which include a 10-month suspension, 20 hours of community service and forfeiture of Lochte's financial winnings for a gold medal won in Rio — considering other athletes were punished less severely for more serious offenses.

Armour: Ryan Lochte's 10-month suspension is unnecessarily harsh

By comparison, swimming superstar Michael Phelps was handed a six-month suspension for a second offense of driving under the influence in 2014. In that incident, Phelps was stopped after police clocked him driving at 84 mph as he crossed double lane lines in the Baltimore tunnel on Interstate 95. Tests showed Phelps' blood-alcohol content at twice the legal limit.

Ostrow did not mention Phelps, but he did point out what Lochte had not done.

“That said, in my opinion, while the collective sanctions appear to be harsh when considering what actually happened that day — Ryan did not commit a crime, he did not put the public safety at risk, and he did not cheat in his sport — we will leave it to others to evaluate the appropriateness of the penalties,” Ostrow said.

Lochte essentially embellished a true story about the gas station incident during the Rio Olympics. A USA TODAY Sports investigation showed that, while Lochte did exaggerate when he said in a TV interview that security guards at the gas station had put a gun to his forehead, his account about what happened that night was true.

Ryan Lochte agrees to serve 10-month suspension, other swimmers get four months

Lochte also did not repeat the “gun to the forehead” statement to authorities, transcripts show, and Brazilian legal experts and a judge suggested it was the security guards who may have committed the most serious offense that night, either by robbing the swimmers or using a weapon to demand payment for alleged damages to an advertising poster. Brazil, like the U.S., has laws against vigilante-style justice.

Brazilian authorities are proceeding with a case against Lochte for allegedly filing a false police report, but Ostrow has maintained there are no false statements in the report.

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