(Avweb) – The pilot of actor Johnny Depp’s private flight last month is facing up to two years in prison for his role in the alleged smuggling of the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s two Yorkshire terriers into Australia.  The country’s justice system is now considering what to do with the unidentified pilot, and with Depp, who faces up to 10 years in jail after the dogs Pistol and Boo were allegedly intentionally hidden from Customs officers to avoid the 10-day quarantine that Australia demands for pets being brought into the country.

If the prosecution goes ahead, Depp can apparently dodge the prison time by paying a $265,000 fine but there’s no such relief for the pilot mentioned in various news reports on the topic.

Authorities learned about Pistol and Boo when they were spotted being pampered at a Sydney dog salon. Australia has strict quarantine laws and while Depp and the pilot will undoubtedly be inconvenienced if charges proceed, the Yorkies escaped a more permanent fate. Depp was able to get the dogs out of Australia just before the government was about to kill them. “It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States,” Australian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce warned at the time. “Now Mr. Depp has to either take his dogs back to California or we’re going to have to euthanize them.”

– courtesy Russ Niles and Avweb biz, Belvoir Media Group, LLC