Sofia Court Reduces Prison Sentence of Alleged Drug Gang Leader Zlatomir Ivanov

The Sofia Appellate Court has reduced the sentence of alleged drug boss Zlatomir Ivanov, aka Zlatko Baretata (The Beret), from 8 to 6.5 years of imprisonment.

Ivanov, a former counter-terrorism squad commando, faces charges of leading an organized crime group involved in drug trafficking and assassinations. He was arrested on February 7, 2009, after he turned himself in to Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (DANS).

In February 2012, he was sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment by the Sofia City Court.

The ruling of the Sofia Appellate Court is not final and may be appealed before the Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS), according to reports of news.bg.

The prosecuting authority requested a 17-year jail term and serious penalties for the 20 other defendants in the case at the court of first instance.