Stallone fined over banned body-building drugs

Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone was out of pocket by more than €7,000 today after being fined for importing banned drugs into Australia.

New South Wales state Deputy Chief Magistrate Paul Cloran, imposing the sentence on Stallone, said in Sydney that the 'Rocky' and 'Rambo' actor had failed to show he had a valid prescription for vials of human growth hormone that were in his luggage when he arrived for a promotional tour in February.

Stallone, 60, had also failed to declare the male hormone testosterone on a customs entry form, although he had legitimate medical reasons for carrying the drug.

Cloran fined Stallone, who was not present in court and had previously pleaded guilty, a total of about €1,800 on both charges and ordered him to pay prosecution costs of €6,000.

Cloran said that because of the publicity surrounding the case, the penalty was enough to send a clear message that such behaviour would not be tolerated.

“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,” Cloran said.

He said he was satisfied the human growth hormone and testosterone were for 60-year-old Stallone's personal use, and that “there is no suggestion that the substances were being used for anything other than cosmetic or therapeutic purposes”.

Stallone was charged after a customs search of his luggage at the start of a three-day visit to Sydney in February revealed 48 vials of the human growth hormone drug Jintropin – considered a performance-enhancing drug and banned in Australia.

Three days later, Stallone threw four vials of the male hormone testosterone out of the window of his Sydney hotel room when customs officials arrived to search it.

Cloran said Stallone had failed to produce a valid prescription for the Jintropin, which is not legally available for sale in the US, and found that he had been “untruthful about the existence of a prescription”.

However, citing testimony from Stallone’s Beverly Hills-based doctor, Robert Huizenga, Cloran found that Stallone had been using the testosterone legally under medical supervision, although he had failed to declare it to customs officials.

In a letter to the court in which he apologised for a “terrible mistake”, the hero of the 'Rocky' and 'Rambo' movies said he had taken the drugs for years for a medical condition that he did not disclose.

In an interview with customs officials after the growth hormone was discovered in his bags, Stallone said he was carrying such a large amount of the drug because he was about to go on location in Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) for three months to shoot the latest 'Rambo' film.

“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,” court documents quoted him as saying.

“Doing 'Rambo' is hard work … Where do you think I am going to get this stuff in Burma?”

Human growth hormone, a naturally-occurring substance that can be replicated synthetically and is used to build muscle mass, is considered a performance-enhancing drug in Australia and it cannot be imported without a permit.

The maximum penalty for bringing Jintropin into Australia without a licence is a fine of 110,000 Australian dollars (€67,000) and five years in prison.

But Stallone faced a maximum penalty of €13,100 on each of the two charges and no prison time because the matter was heard in a local, not federal, court.

Robert Janeczko, a senior official with the Australian Customs Service, welcomed the court decision.

“I think it’s a good outcome. The two criminal convictions show that whether your name is Smith or Stallone you can’t bring prohibited imports into this country,” he said.

Stallone’s lawyers did not comment on the decision.