Online sex worker and former viral internet star Bryan "Gratata" Silva, whose ill-timed social media posts launched an investigation that brought him a year-and-a-half term on drug and ammunition charges, is back in jail.
Court records allege that he committed several probation violations that returned him Sept. 11 to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, the facility that released him in early January.
The 33-year-old Silva was slated for a bail hearing this past Monday, but after an unusual interchange with Charlottesville Circuit Judge Claude Worrell, bail will be delayed as Silva confers with a new attorney.
"The client believes I’m not working in his best interests," outgoing lawyer Peter Frazier told Worrell at the hearing. "He believes that I have a bias against him."
The judge asked Silva to speak.
"I don’t know what he’s talking about," said Silva.
"You don’t know what he’s talking about?" asked the judge. "You don’t know why he’s asking to withdraw?"
"Correct," Silva responded.
Moments earlier, before the hearing began, Silva could be heard speaking in loud tones as he and Frazier were conferring.
"I was transported for no reason," Silva scolded Frazier, despite his attorney’s attempt to hush him and keep their conference to themselves. "Thanks for nothing."
During the public hearing, a puzzled-looking judge turned to the defense lawyer.
"Mr. Frazier, is there anything else you can tell me?" asked Worrell.
"No, your honor," replied Frazier.
With that, the judge heeded Frazier’s request to step away from the case.
Prior to the hearing, Frazier shared with The Daily Progress that the matter Silva was facing was whether the court should construe his alleged probation violation as "technical" in nature, in which case the penalty would be limited to 14 days in jail, or "special," in which case the court could reimpose some or all of the 6 1/2-year suspended portion of prior sentences.
Silva has a tumultuous history in the local courts. Charlottesville law enforcement shut down Jefferson Park Avenue in the city for nine hours to deal with what they characterized as a standoff, a 2016 incident in which Silva was convicted of brandishing for pointing a gun at a 17-year-old girl he met online.
Silva rose to fame in 2014 with a fictional kind of brandishing. In a short video shot toward a bathroom mirror and posted on the now-defunct Vine platform, the then-23-year-old Silva could be seen pantomiming a pistol while saying "Gratata," a phonetic version of machine-gun sounds.
More recently, Silva inadvertently drew the attention of police when, one day in November 2022, he publicly opined that the University of Virginia should endure "pain and suffering" and that some unnamed people should be left on a floor with holes in their bodies. Hours later and with no apparent connection to him, a UVa student shot and killed three schoolmates inside a chartered bus, injuring two others.
Police served a search warrant on Silva’s office and seized drugs and ammunition, a raid that led to drug and firearms convictions. It’s those two convictions that are the subject of a recent probation violation report, which alleges Silva:
■ Is a member of a gang known as Gangster Disciples.
■ Has handled real or simulated weapons on Instagram.
■ Failed a urine test that came back positive for fentanyl.
■ And failed a urine test that came back positive for methamphetamine.
The report noted that he claimed the methamphetamine must have come from an Adderall prescription and that his probation officer misconstrued his six-pointed star tattoo as a gang insignia when it was actually a Star of David; Silva is Jewish.
"Silva was taken into custody without incident," probation officer Rachel Rossman wrote. "However, it should be noted that he told this officer that he was richer than anyone here, had on $1,000 shoes, and believed this officer was just ‘messing’ with him."
As Silva’s brother later revealed, Silva’s ill-timed tirades against UVa stemmed from the November stillbirth of a son shortly after a routine prenatal visit to UVa Medical Center.
Silva has complained publicly that the prosecution and ensuing eviction from a second-floor office on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall curtailed his income as purveyor of so-called hype items. Some of his income appears to come from his online sex work, promoted on x.com and monetized on onlyfans.com.
Unless he obtains an earlier bail hearing, Silva will next have a court date on Oct. 21. The court records do not yet indicate the appointment of a new lawyer.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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