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Silva Pleads Guilty To Two Charges

Photo: WINA


A plea agreement for Bryan Silva, the Charlottesville social media celebrity who barricaded himself inside his home for several hours after his girlfriend escaped and ran for help back on January 3.

In exchange for pleading guilty to felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and a misdemeanor count of brandishing a firearm, the prosecution dropped a felony abduction charge. The 25-year-old admitted to threatening his 17-year-old then-girlfriend but, in the end, he was the one who told her to get out, which the prosecution admitted made it tough for the charge to stick.

Until his sentencing on July 5, Silva is under house arrest in his mother’s Orange County home under strict restrictions, including no internet access whatsoever.

Silva faces a maximum of six years behind bars and a fine of up to $5,000.

Silva’s first claim to cyber fame is a six-second video that was has been watched more than 18 million times. In 2104, BuzzFeed did an article on the clip called “Meet Bryan Silva, the Kid Who Gained 400,000 Followers on Vine for Making Weird Gun Noises.” Comedy Central’s “Tosh.0” also did a story on Silva.

Also among his viral posts are the apparently drunken rants while barricaded that he posted on Facebook and the pants-down arrest that followed.

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