“Cocaine Kingpin” Evelin Banev – Brendo to Serve a Total of 10 Years and 6 Months in Prison in Bulgaria

Evelin Banev, also known as “Brendo,” will serve a cumulative sentence of 10 years and 6 months in prison under a strict initial regime, following convictions in Romania and Italy for drug trafficking and smuggling. This was confirmed by a three-judge panel of the Sofia Appellate Court, which upheld a prior ruling by the Sofia City Court from a month earlier.

The prosecutor’s protest — which called for a recalculation of Banev’s overall sentence based on the foreign convictions — was rejected. The court noted that the prosecution did not request the increase of the heaviest sentence by up to one-half, as permitted under Article 24 of the Bulgarian Penal Code. As a result, the court could not address this possibility.

The appellate decision is final and not subject to further appeal or protest.

“Cocaine Kingpin” Evelin Banev voluntarily surrendered to the Bulgarian law enforcement authorities