Sylvester Stallone gets lower penalty · 2007-05-21 13:28
Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone has been convicted of importing a banned growth hormone into Australia and has been ordered to pay fines and costs.
A judge in New South Wales state ordered Stallone to pay A$13,000 ($10,700; ??5,400) – the majority of it costs incurred by the prosecution.
According to BBC, Stallone, who was not present in court, had earlier pleaded guilty to charges.
The actor was charged in February with bringing growth hormone Jintropin with him on a publicity tour to Australia.
A customs search of his luggage at Sydney airport revealed 48 vials of the drug, which Australia regards as a performance-enhancing substance and has banned.
The judge said Stallone was being fined for bringing Jintropin into the country without a valid prescription.
He also fined the actor for failing to declare at customs that he was importing another drug, testosterone, into Australia – despite having a prescription for it.
Stallone threw four vials of testosterone out of his hotel window when customs officers came to search his room, three days after he arrived in Australia.
Australia's maximum penalty for importing banned substances of this type is A$110,000 ($90,600; ??45,900) and five years in prison.
Stallone faced a lower penalty because his case was heard in a local, rather than federal, court.
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