Court level
21 % District · 79 % Circuit
Anthony Sylvester
Defense counsel of record in 1,059 Virginia cases (2025)
Cases of record · 20251,059
Anthony Sylvester appeared as defense counsel of record in 1,059 Virginia court cases during 2025, drawn from Virginia District and Circuit Court Information Systems.
Primary jurisdiction
Prince George County · 634 cases
Most common charge
Failure to Appear · 95
Across 504 resolved 2025 cases, 56% were dropped — 170 nolle prossed and 113 dismissed.
Case outcomes
Resolved cases — 504 of 1,059. "Resolved" means a final disposition was reached. Pending cases and probation revocations are excluded.
Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology. Convicted = guilty disposition on originally filed charge. Reduced = guilty disposition with non-empty amended charge. Dropped = nolle prosequi or dismissal. Acquitted = found not guilty at trial.
Plea vs trial
Of 221 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, how many pled and how many went to trial.
Pled guilty
20593%
Resolved by guilty plea — no trial.
Went to trial
167%
5 acquittals · 11 convictions at trial.
Trial acquittal rate
31%
5 of 16 trial verdicts ended in acquittal.
Top charge — Failure to Appear
Anthony Sylvester's most common charge category in 2025 (95 cases of record · 66 resolved). Outcomes use the same definitions as the overall view.
Acquittals are tracked at the overall level — the top-charge view shows the three primary disposition paths. See the Failure to Appear page for jurisdiction-wide context.
Cases like yours
Anthony Sylvester's most common charge × jurisdiction combinations in 2025. If your charge and county appear here, this attorney has handled cases like yours specifically — at the volume shown. Minimum 3 cases per row.
| Charge | Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Failure to Appear | Prince George County | 70 | 26 | 44 |
| Drug Possession | Prince George County | 61 | 22 | 39 |
| Weapons Offense | Prince George County | 52 | 27 | 25 |
| Larceny / Theft | Prince George County | 40 | 32 | 8 |
| Drug Possession | Hopewell | 31 | 1 | 30 |
| Failure to Appear | Hopewell | 23 | 0 | 23 |
| Weapons Offense | Hopewell | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| Driving Suspended | Prince George County | 18 | 12 | 6 |
| Assault & Battery | Prince George County | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| Larceny / Theft | Hopewell | 15 | 1 | 14 |
| Property Destruction | Prince George County | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| Trespassing | Prince George County | 10 | 9 | 1 |
Each row links to Anthony Sylvester's charge × jurisdiction page where outcomes for that combination are visible site-wide.
Reduction targets
When the original charge was reduced, the case was most often resolved as one of the following lesser charges.
Destruct Prop w/ Intentent >=$1000
3
Improper Driving
3
Assault & Battery-Fam Member
2
Failure to Carry/Exhibit License
2
Murder: 2nd Degree
2
Nonviolent Felon Poss Gun >10Y
2
Possess Paraphernalia
2
64/55 Speeding
1
Where cases were heard
Top jurisdictions by case volume in 2025.
| Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince George County | 634 | 209 | 425 |
| Hopewell | 402 | 5 | 397 |
| Colonial Heights | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Greensville County | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Chesterfield County | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Petersburg | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| New Kent County | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Case mix by charge
Charge categories Anthony Sylvester appeared on as defense counsel of record, 2025.
| Charge category | Cases | Resolved | Convicted | Dropped | Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 560 | 191 | 44 | 129 | 15 |
| Failure to Appear | 95 | 66 | 15 | 49 | 0 |
| Drug Possession | 92 | 47 | 29 | 14 | 4 |
| Weapons Offense | 77 | 44 | 8 | 33 | 3 |
| Larceny / Theft | 58 | 34 | 19 | 9 | 6 |
| Assault & Battery | 25 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Driving Suspended | 23 | 19 | 9 | 7 | 3 |
| Property Destruction | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Murder / Manslaughter | 14 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Trespassing | 14 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
Other attorneys with cases in Prince George County
Listed by case volume in Prince George County, 2025.
| Attorney | Prince George County cases | Total (statewide) |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Sells | 303 | 511 |
| Crawford Ellsworth | 295 | 444 |
| Carol Zacheiss | 156 | 291 |
| Whitney King | 130 | 207 |
| Mary K Martin | 88 | 240 |
| Christopher Hale | 71 | 114 |
| Linda Tomlin | 67 | 69 |
| Anthony N Sylvester | 63 | 67 |
What this data does not show
- Retained matters not of court record — cases settled before formal counsel of record was entered
- Federal court cases — state-court records only
- Case facts, evidence quality, witness cooperation, or client circumstances
- Plea-versus-trial strategy, motion practice, or sentencing advocacy
- Quality of legal representation
- The 19th Judicial Circuit (Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Falls Church) Circuit Court is not in CIS — district-level cases for those three jurisdictions are included; circuit-level are not. See coverage notes.
Outcomes reflect the recorded facts of cases, not the quality of advocacy. Past outcomes do not predict future case results. For legal advice, consult a licensed Virginia attorney.
Common questions
Quick reference for journalists, researchers, and AI assistants citing this page.
Anthony Sylvester appeared as defense counsel of record in 1,059 Virginia court cases during 2025 — 227 in District Court and 832 in Circuit Court. Source: Virginia DCIS + CIS public records.
Prince George County, with 634 of 1,059 2025 cases handled there.
In 2025 the most common charge category in Anthony Sylvester's case record was Failure to Appear (95 cases). The full charge mix is in the table above.
Of 504 resolved cases: 34% convicted of original charge (173), 56% dropped (283 = 170 nolle prossed + 113 dismissed), 8% reduced to a lesser charge (43), 1% acquitted (5). Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology.
Of 221 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, 205 (93%) resolved by guilty plea and 16 (7%) went to trial — 5 acquittals and 11 convictions at trial.
Virginia District Court Information System (DCIS) and Circuit Court Information System (CIS), 2025 calendar year, direct extraction. Aggregated by defense counsel of record per the methodology. Refreshed quarterly. Last updated May 2, 2026.
Looking for representation in Prince George County? See VCF's free case-review process — qualified Virginia attorneys, matched on your charge and jurisdiction. Independent of any attorney featured on this page.
Methodology
Cases are counted by defense counsel of record as recorded in DCIS (district) and CIS (circuit). Outcomes use the strict definitions published at virginiacourtfile.com/methodology. Resolved includes only cases with final disposition codes (Guilty, Not Guilty, Dismissed, Nolle Prosequi). Convicted is a guilty disposition on the originally filed charge with no amended charge. Reduced is a guilty disposition with a non-empty amended charge field. Dropped combines Dismissed and Nolle Prosequi. Pending cases, certifications, and probation revocations are excluded from the outcome rates above.
Citation
VirginiaCourtFile.com. "Anthony Sylvester — Virginia Defense Attorney Case Data, 2025." Available at https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/attorneys/anthony-sylvester. Source: Virginia District Court Information System and Circuit Court Information System, 2025.
Data last refreshed May 2, 2026. Refreshed quarterly.