Court level
34 % District · 66 % Circuit
Sante Piracci
Defense counsel of record in 480 Virginia cases (2025)
Cases of record · 2025480
Sante Piracci appeared as defense counsel of record in 480 Virginia court cases during 2025, drawn from Virginia District and Circuit Court Information Systems.
Primary jurisdiction
Colonial Heights · 189 cases
Most common charge
Larceny / Theft · 63
Across 349 resolved 2025 cases, 53% were dropped — 129 nolle prossed and 56 dismissed.
Case outcomes
Resolved cases — 349 of 480. "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 164 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, how many pled and how many went to trial.
Pled guilty
14689%
Resolved by guilty plea — no trial.
Went to trial
1811%
8 acquittals · 10 convictions at trial.
Trial acquittal rate
44%
8 of 18 trial verdicts ended in acquittal.
Top charge — Larceny / Theft
Sante Piracci's most common charge category in 2025 (63 cases of record · 52 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 Larceny / Theft page for jurisdiction-wide context.
Cases like yours
Sante Piracci'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larceny / Theft | Colonial Heights | 41 | 35 | 6 |
| Larceny / Theft | Powhatan County | 19 | 13 | 6 |
| Drug Possession | Powhatan County | 15 | 9 | 6 |
| Fraud / Forgery | Powhatan County | 15 | 11 | 4 |
| Failure to Appear | Colonial Heights | 13 | 10 | 3 |
| Drug Possession | Petersburg | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Failure to Appear | Powhatan County | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| Grand Larceny | Colonial Heights | 10 | 1 | 9 |
| Failure to Appear | Petersburg | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Weapons Offense | Colonial Heights | 9 | 4 | 5 |
| Weapons Offense | Petersburg | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Drug Possession | Colonial Heights | 8 | 2 | 6 |
Each row links to Sante Piracci'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.
Child Pornography: Possess
40
No Driver's License
2
Attempted Grand Larceny
1
Disorderly Conduct
1
Disorderly Conduct
1
Distrib/Pwi Marijuana <1/2 Oz
1
Driving Under Revocation/Suspension
1
Drug Possession (Schedule I/II)
1
Where cases were heard
Top jurisdictions by case volume in 2025.
| Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colonial Heights | 189 | 88 | 101 |
| Petersburg | 175 | 1 | 174 |
| Powhatan County | 106 | 72 | 34 |
| Chesterfield County | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Richmond City | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Case mix by charge
Charge categories Sante Piracci appeared on as defense counsel of record, 2025.
| Charge category | Cases | Resolved | Convicted | Dropped | Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 228 | 168 | 24 | 90 | 52 |
| Larceny / Theft | 63 | 52 | 19 | 32 | 1 |
| Drug Possession | 36 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 1 |
| Failure to Appear | 33 | 30 | 10 | 16 | 0 |
| Weapons Offense | 21 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| Fraud / Forgery | 19 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 |
| Grand Larceny | 11 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Assault & Battery | 10 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Property Destruction | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Trespassing | 8 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
Other attorneys with cases in Colonial Heights
Listed by case volume in Colonial Heights, 2025.
| Attorney | Colonial Heights cases | Total (statewide) |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew Gravens | 362 | 390 |
| David Lassiter | 282 | 476 |
| Jon Thornbrugh | 165 | 365 |
| Cecilie Hamilton | 154 | 163 |
| Robert Condon | 64 | 64 |
| Matt Gravens | 63 | 64 |
| Cecilie B Hamilton | 63 | 63 |
| Christian M Vaughn | 55 | 64 |
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.
Sante Piracci appeared as defense counsel of record in 480 Virginia court cases during 2025 — 165 in District Court and 315 in Circuit Court. Source: Virginia DCIS + CIS public records.
Colonial Heights, with 189 of 480 2025 cases handled there.
In 2025 the most common charge category in Sante Piracci's case record was Larceny / Theft (63 cases). The full charge mix is in the table above.
Of 349 resolved cases: 27% convicted of original charge (94), 53% dropped (185 = 129 nolle prossed + 56 dismissed), 18% reduced to a lesser charge (62), 2% acquitted (8). Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology.
Of 164 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, 146 (89%) resolved by guilty plea and 18 (11%) went to trial — 8 acquittals and 10 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 Colonial Heights? 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. "Sante Piracci — Virginia Defense Attorney Case Data, 2025." Available at https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/attorneys/sante-piracci. Source: Virginia District Court Information System and Circuit Court Information System, 2025.
Data last refreshed May 2, 2026. Refreshed quarterly.