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An American woman has been sentenced to a year’s jail for attempting to bring a 24-karat gold-plated gun through Sydney Airport.
Liliana Goodson, now 30, was arrested in April 2023 after Border Force officers found the $3,000 pistol in her luggage, and will serve 12 months – four of them in full-time custody – after pleading guilty to illegally importing a firearm and ammunition.
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Goodson had travelled from Florida to attend clown school on a working holiday visa, telling police she brought the gun for protection and was “scared” to shoot it, hoping that simply showing it would intimidate any potential threats and she could “just pistol whip” if that failed.
While she told Border Force officers she failed to declare the gun because she had forgotten she had it with her, evidence pulled from her phone showed she had Googled “can I have a gun in my suitcase?”, and created a calendar reminder to “put gun in suitcase”.
“When I looked on Google, it’s because I was trying to figure out how to get the gun from America to Australia,” she reportedly told the ABF at the time.
“The Google advice was as long as I kept the gun inside my case, there would be no issues … I have very limited life experience, a lot of things that would be common sense to people would not be common to me.”
According to a submission from her lawyer, Goodson had been paranoid when she packed the gun due in part to self-medication with synthetic cannabis; she had also attempted to ship 50 rounds of ammunition, though not of the correct size.
“She packs the gun into the suitcase while there is this state of paranoia in her mind; the abandonment of her animals (pet dogs), the abandonment of herself,” the submission read.
“She says she came to Australia because she thought it was a safe place, but she also packed the gun for her own safety and to protect herself … even though the bullets were for a different gun.”
In her sentencing, Magistrate Susan Horan highlighted the “significant need” to deter similar incidents in future.
“She did not have permission to import the firearm or the ammunition to Australia,” she said.
“Australia has a strong stance on firearms.”
Goodson will also be fined $1,000, required to be on good behaviour for two years, and given drug counselling when she is released.
David Reed
says:Don’t think she needed to go to clown school. Already an Honours Graduate by the sound of it.