Ageing Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone's desire to "feel and look good" has cost him almost $3,000 in fines.
Sixty-year-old Stallone was not present on Monday when fined $2,975 in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court for bringing banned hormones into Australia.
Handing out the penalty, a magistrate noted that when asked why he took the human growth hormone found in his bag at Sydney airport in February, Stallone had told customs officers "doing Rambo is hard work".
Deputy Chief magistrate Paul Cloran also said Stallone twice tried to deceive customs officers about the hormone.
The actor last week apologised and pleaded guilty to importing a prohibited import, 48 vials of the human growth hormone Jintropin, and to possessing a prohibited import, four vials of testosterone.
The magistrate fined Stallone $2,550 for the first offence, $425 for the second and ordered him to pay $10,000 towards the prosecution's legal costs.
Stallone had faced a maximum $22,000 fine.
When the Jintropin was found in his bag, Stallone told customs officers it was a medication for which he had a prescription, adding: "I will not be without these. I cannot be without these".
The magistrate said Stallone was untruthful about the existence of a prescription, as Jintropin is not legally available in the United States.
And the actor tried to deceive the customs officers into believing a false prescription, produced later, was genuine.
But Mr Cloran said there was evidence the testosterone had been prescribed.
When interviewing officers asked Stallone why he took Jintropin, he said: "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. 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?"
After his Australian visit, Stallone went to Asia to work on a new film.
The magistrate said he did not place any weight on the fact that Stallone threw the testosterone over his balcony when customs officers came to his hotel, days after the Jintropin was found.
Referring to Stallone's apology, Mr Cloran said the actor said his doctors had prescribed human growth hormone and testosterone years ago when he was diagnosed with "a condition".
The magistrate referred to a doctor's statement which said human growth hormone was used by an estimated 20,000 to 100,000 "middle-aged or elderly Americans for its purported anti-ageing effects".
"There is no suggestion that the substances were being used for anything other than cosmetic or therapeutic purposes," Mr Cloran said.
"Mr Stallone made an error of judgment and he has now done all he can to remedy the situation.
"He has shown contrition. He has expressed his remorse."
Stallone had not declared the items on his flight incoming passenger card (IPC).
"The vast majority of ... people answer the question on the IPC and proceed unchallenged," Mr Cloran said.
"The sentence of the court should, in my view, send a clear message to others of a like mind that this kind of behaviour will be met with condign punishment."
He imposed the higher fine on the import matter, regarding it as the most serious because Stallone twice tried to deceive customs officers.
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