Dog smuggling charges against Johnny Depp’s wife Amber Heard have been dropped after she admitted lying on her arrival card in Australia last year.
Ms Heard, 29, pleaded guilty to making a false statement to immigration about the couple’s Yorkshire terriers Pistol and Boo.
Ms Heard and Hollywood star Depp both attended Southport Magistrate’s Court in Queensland state on Monday.
The presiding judge dropped two illegal importation charges against Ms Heard.
These carried a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail or fines of up to A$265,000 ($195,000, £172,000).
Ms Heard’s lawyer will reportedly submit a video to the court of the actor expressing remorse and respect for Australia’s bio-security laws.
Her guilty plea means Depp will be excused from giving evidence to the court, reports say.
Ms Heard allegedly brought Pistol and Boo to Queensland in a private jet in May 2015 to visit Depp, who was filming ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’.
Their presence in the country was noticed after a local dog groomer posted a photo of Pistol and Boo on social media, reports The BBC.
The case was dubbed the “war on terrier” and made international headlines when then-Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said the pets should “bugger off back to the US”.
Joyce, who is now deputy prime minister, threatened to put the dogs down and said even the “sexiest man alive” needed to adhere to quarantine rules.
The dogs were quickly taken out of the country and Ms Heard vowed never to return to Australia.
Australia’s tough quarantine laws are designed to keep disease at bay. Dogs entering from the US must spend 10 days in quarantine.
