Australian Court KOs Stallone

Mon., May. 21, 2007 7:46 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

Sylvester Stallone's rocky legal road has hit a dead end.

The aging action star was formally convicted in Australian court Monday on charges of importing restricted muscle-building growth hormones into the country and was ordered to pay more than $10,000 in fines.

Stallone, who did not appear in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court, pleaded guilty last week to two charges of bringing 45 vials of Jintropin and four vials of testosterone into the country during a three-day sojourn in the nation's capital in February.

Importing the hormone into the country without a permit is illegal, and Stallone failed to declare the substance upon touching down earlier this year. Customs officials found the vials during a routine screening of his luggage and later conducted a raid on his Sydney hotel room.

"The accused came into this country as a visitor, all visitors are welcome as long as they obey the law," Deputy Chief Magistrate Paul Cloran said.

"Mr. Stallone made an error of judgment and he has apologized...with the plea of guilty he has done all he could to remedy the situation."

Almost.

The 60-year-old artificially enhanced movie star was ordered to pay $2,451 for his guilty plea and a further $8,200 to cover prosecution costs.

The former penalty is higher than usual for the nature of the offense; Cloran credited the increased out-of-pocket to the fact that Stallone twice attempted to deceive customs officials about the legality of his stash and that the prosecutor hoped to send "a clear message to others that this kind of behavior will be met with punishment."

In court, Cloran said that Stallone had clearly been "untruthful about the existence of a prescription" when he told customs officials that his Los Angeles doctor had prescribed the hormone to treat an undisclosed malady—he hadn't, despite a dubious prescription submitted to the court. However, Cloran noted that the Rocky star had apologized for his "terrible mistake" in a letter and that "there is no suggestion that the substances were being used for anything other than cosmetic or therapeutic purposes."

Stallone's Beverly Hills doctor, Robert Huizenga, also confirmed in court that he had been supervising the actor's dosage. He did not, however, confirm whether said supervision included informing the actor to hurl the vials of testosterone out of his hotel room window when customs officials showed up to search the place.

Cloran said he did not dwell too much on the paranoid behavior.

"He has shown contrition," he said. "He has expressed remorse."

As for what an action star might be doing with a load of muscle-building hormone, Stallone reportedly told customs officials that the hormone was being taken to treat "a condition" and that he and the hormones were actually en route to Asia, where he was due to begin production on the next Rambo installment after completing his Aussie Rocky V press duties.

"This stuff gives your body a boost and you feel and look good," he said, per the customs report. "Doing Rambo is hard work, and I am going to be in Burma for a while. Where do you think I am going to get this stuff in Burma?"