Court upholds 9 years for fatal crash
Bulgaria’s Supreme Court of Cassation upheld a nine-year prison sentence for Nacho Panteleev after he caused a fatal collision that killed Ferrario Spasov. The defendant drove 165 kilometers per hour in a 90-kilometer zone on November 11, 2023, striking another vehicle traveling toward Veliko Tarnovo. Panteleev also received an 11-year driving ban after the Veliko Tarnovo Appeal Court increased his original five-year sentence.
Judges rejected his cassation appeal and ruled that the crime qualified as particularly serious, given the extreme speed and the weather conditions at the time. The court noted that Panteleev had multiple prior traffic infractions for speeding, demonstrating a pattern of dangerous behavior. Authorities acquitted him of failing to maintain safe passing distances between vehicles.
