Sylvester Stallone pleaded guilty Tuesday May 8th to bringing vials of banned human growth hormone into Australia.
- May 15, 2007
AceShowbiz - Sylvester Stallone pleaded guilty Tuesday May 8th to bringing vials of banned human growth hormone into Australia during a trip to promote his new film, "Rocky Balboa."
The actor's lawyers, entered the plea before Sydney's Darling Center Local Court on behalf of Stallone, explained that Stallone admitted to two charges of possessing the body-building drugs in his luggage when he arrived at Sydney airport from the United States on February 16th.
The maximum fine for the offence is 110,000 dollars (91,600 US dollars), but Stallone faces a top penalty of just 22,000 dollars because the charge is being dealt with in a local court.
Stallone was accused of bringing a banned substance into Australia after a customs search of his luggage during a Feb. 16 visit to Sydney revealed 48 vials of the human growth hormone product, Jintropin. 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 from the national drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Sentencing information, in the meantime, was not released, and Stallone's lawyers made no immediately comment.
