film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2084797,00.html
Guardian Unlimited Sylvester Stallone attends the Australian premiere of Rocky Bilboa in Sydney Sylvester Stallone at the Australian premiere of Rocky Balboa in Sydney in February. Photograph: Patrick Riviere/Getty Images The Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone has been convicted of importing a banned growth hormone into Australia and ordered to pay more than 5,000 in fines and costs. A judge in the state of New South Wales instructed the 60-year-old actor to pay A$13,000 (5,400) after failing to obtain a valid prescription for the human growth hormone Jintropin on a visit to the country. The onscreen action hero was charged after customs officers found 48 vials of the drug in his luggage on his arrival in Sydney. Officials later witnessed him drop four vials of the hormone testosterone from his hotel balcony before authorities could search his suite.
Advertisement Last week Stallone, who was not present in court, pleaded guilty to bringing Jintropin into the country without a valid prescription and failing to declare at customs that he was also importing testosterone. The actor wrote to authorities to apologise for his 'terrible mistake'. The deputy chief magistrate Paul Cloran told the court: "There is no suggestion that the substances were being used for anything other than cosmetic or therapeutic purposes. I don't think there is anything further the court could or should do in order to deter Mr Stallone from committing these offences again." Stallone had been on a three-day visit to Australia in February to promote the latest instalment in his Rocky film franchise when the incident occurred. The veteran film star told customs officials he was carrying a large amount of Jintropin because he was about to go on location in Thailand and Myanmar and needed to look good for the shoot. "As you get older, the pituitary gland slows and you feel older, your bones narrow. This stuff gives your body a boost and you feel and look good," he said. The vital ingredient in Jintropin is somatropin, which is advertised as reducing body fat, boosting muscle mass, improving sexual prowess and regenerating major organs. Stallone's Beverly Hills-based doctor, Robert Huizenga, told the hearing that. although the actor did not have a prescription for the testosterone and failed to declare it to customs officials, he was taking the drug legally under medical supervision. However, the court ruled that Stallone had been "untruthful" about having a prescription script for Jintropin, which is not legally available for sale in the US. The maximum penalty for bringing Jintropin into Australia illegally is a fine of A$110,000 and five years in prison. But Stallone faced a lesser penalty on each of the two charges as the matter was dealt with in a local, not federal, court.
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