The three had built a prostitution network that spanned Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain and Belgium and operated from 1999 to 2003.

Vanko 1 was also sentenced to a 120 000 leva fine and Rachelov to 100 000 leva.

But in 2006, to public astonishment, lawmakers “inadvertently” (as some later claimed) approved changes to the Penal Code that softened the punishment for such crimes.

The rapper immediately appealed against his sentence and on January 25 2007, Plovdiv Appellate Court reduced his prison term to four and a half years.

Given the time he had already served under arrest during trial, Glavchev had only 13 months left on his sentence. He turned himself in voluntarily in April 2007 and had his sentence cut by one third for working while in prison.

The appellate court also reduced the fine he has to pay to 4 500 leva.

His case has become a synonym for badly implemented legislation in Bulgaria and attracted such strong public attention that it even entered the European Commission’s 2006 monitoring reports on Bulgaria’s readiness to join the EU.

The amendments that allowed Vanko 1 to escape the harsher sentence have been since repealed and the rapper rejected the allegations that they were designed to get him off the hook. "I don't think the law was changed for my sake. Someone just seized the opportunity to make up some things," he said, as quoted by mediapool.bg.

The rapper was in a good mood, joking with the assembled reporters and telling them he was looking forward to eating the lamb cooked by his mother. He also shared his plans to cash in on his notoriety, with a music record and a book due to come out within a year.