Johnny Depp's Wife Amber Heard Could Spend 10 Years in Prison After Smuggling Pets

Johnny Depp’s wife, Amber Heard, may be in serious trouble after the Australian government has charged her of smuggling their two Yorkies, Pistol and Boo, in the country during their vacation.

The Daily Mail UK Online reported that last Thursday, the 29-year-old actress has been charged of illegal importation and falsification of documents when the actress has allegedly smuggled her two pet dogs into Australia via private jet and producing false documents.

The actress has been requested to appear in front of a Queensland judge on Sept. 7, but the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions is still clueless if she will attend in person. The maximum sentence for importation charges is 10 years of prison and a fine of AUD 120,000, while falsification of document charges has a penalty of maximum one year in prison and a fine of AUD 10,200.

According to Los Angeles Times, the alleged crime occurred when Johnny Depp was filming the fifth instalment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean" movie in Australia last April. During that time, the couple has flown to the country in their private jet, and their pets, Pistol and Boo, where with them but no proper clearance for the dogs have been issued.

Australia has a very strict policy for bringing in animals into the country. A permit is needed first and the animals should undergo 10 days of quarantine. This is to prevent any diseases that may be acquired from the animals.

The Wrap reported that according to a Brisbane attorney Bill Potts, even if Heard is convicted, she is unlikely to stay locked in prison for a long time because the pet dogs have not stayed in Australia for 72 hours. He believes that the court may consider the case given that no actual biosecurity risk has been triggered when the two dogs were flown in Australia.

Australia Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce thinks otherwise. He feels that if they give an exemption because Johnny Depp and Amanda Heard have flown by a private jet, this may mean they have to exempt everybody and may appear that they are taking policies and laws lightly.

In retort to what Joyce has stated, US Weekly has written that Heard commented, during a "Magic Mike XXL" promotion last June, that she and her husband might just avoid visiting the Land Down Under due to "certain politicians there."

This has gotten a lot of flake from the Australian media, stating that Hollywood stars should pay more respect to policies and stop thinking that they are above the law.