Vanko Goes Home To Mama’s Cooking

Bulgarian rapper and convicted pimp Ivan Glavchev – a.k.a. Vanko 1 – has finished his prison sentence and headed home to enjoy some his mother’s cooking, according to the English-language Sofia Weekly.

"Life is good, my mother is going to welcome me with roast lamb," Glavchev was quoted saying as he left Plovdiv prison February 8. "There is no doubt I am hugely popular at the moment, now I am one of the most popular Bulgarians in Bulgaria. It is only natural that I try to make the best of this popularity."

Apart from being a top rapper, Glavchev was running a prostitution racket that landed him with a 4.5-year sentence and a fine of 4,500 Bulgarian Levs (US$3,330). He did only 13 months in prison, as he’d been held awaiting trial for more than three years.

The case caused quite a stir in Bulgarian legal circles and led to the legislators coming under suspicion for incompetence and corruption practices.

Just before Glavchev’s trial and three months before the country joined the European Union, it changed the sentencing provisions for prostitution offenses, reducing heavy sentences and those for more serious offenses including prostitution involving minors, committed by organized criminal groups and involving three or more women.

It caused a public outcry in Bulgaria and raised eyebrows across the EU bloc, where legislators are pushing for tougher sentences for prostitution offenses.

After the court had sentenced the rapper to a jail term that was less than half of what he would have expected under the old laws, the government reintroduced the old and more draconian penalties.