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Johnny Depp facing 10 years in jail for illegally bringing dogs to Australia

Earlier this month, the Pirates of the Caribbean star got into trouble for flying his two pets Pistol and Boo into the country on a private jet

Jenn Selby
Wednesday 27 May 2015 06:12 EDT
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Johnny Depp is perhaps best known for his role as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean
Johnny Depp is perhaps best known for his role as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean (AFP)

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If the threat of their imminent deaths wasn’t enough for Johnny Depp to have his two Yorkshire Terriers flown first class out of Australia, the actor could now face a lengthy jail sentence for illegally bringing the animals into the country.

On Monday, an Australian Senate committee was told that if the incident ends up in court and Depp is found guilty, he could be sentenced to as long as 10 years in jail, or be forced to pay a fine of up to $265,000.

Earlier this month, the Pirates of the Caribbean star got into trouble for flying his two pets Pistol and Boo into the country on a private jet, breaking strict quarantine laws in the country.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that an investigation into the incident concluded that the dogs were not declared and were only discovered to have travelled to Australia after they were taken to a local groomer.

Barnaby Joyce, the Australian Minister for Agriculture, sensationally threatened to euthanize the pups if Depp didn’t get them out of the country within 50 hours.

“If you start letting movie stars — even though they've been the sexiest man alive twice — to come into our nation (with pets), then why don't we just break laws for everybody?” he said.

“Mr Depp has to either take his dogs back to California or we're going to have to euthanise them. It's time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States.”

The dogs have since safely returned home.

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