vault backup: 2026-10-09 18:00:33
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@ -6,25 +6,107 @@ tags:
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- ChildExploitation
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- CSAM
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- FederalCase
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- EasternDistrictOfNewYork
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- California
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- USA
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created: 2026-05-22
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updated: 2026-05-22
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summary: "David Brilhante, aliases 'Knight' and 'CS:GO,' was a San Diego, California leader of Greggy's Cult charged in December 2025 in the Eastern District of New York with engaging in a child exploitation enterprise alongside four co-defendants."
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aliases:
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- "David Brilhante"
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- "Brilhante"
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summary: "David Brilhante, aliases 'Knight' and 'CS:GO,' is a San Diego defendant in the Eastern District of New York Greggy's Cult case, charged in Counts One through Three and released on a $1,000,000 secured bond."
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born: 1997
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location: "San Diego, California"
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relations:
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- type: member_of
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with: "[[Greggy's Cult]]"
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role: "alleged member"
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start: 2020-01
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end: 2021-01
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fn: 3
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Eastern District of New York]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2025-11-18
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fn: 2
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created: 2026-05-22
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updated: 2026-10-09
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---
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[[David Brilhante]], aliases "Knight" and "CS:GO," is a resident of [[San Diego, California]] and a named leader of [[Greggy's Cult]] (also called the Cult of Greg), the online child exploitation network that operated on [[Discord]] from approximately January 2020 through January 2021. He was born approximately 1997 and was 28 at the time of his December 2025 indictment.
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[[David Brilhante]], charged under the aliases "Knight" and "CS:GO," is a [[San Diego, California]] man named in an [[Eastern District of New York]] indictment of six defendants, five of whom the [[Department of Justice]] describes as leaders of [[Greggy's Cult]], an online group that operated on [[Discord]] and gaming platforms. He was born approximately 1997 and was 28 when the indictment was unsealed on December 2, 2025. The case is United States v. Bermudez, 1:25-cr-00361 (PKC). The Department of Justice states, "An indictment is merely an allegation," and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.[^1]
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### Federal Charges (United States v. Bermudez, 1:25-cr-00361)
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### Arrest and Rule 5 Proceedings
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A federal grand jury in the [[Eastern District of New York]] returned an indictment unsealed on December 2, 2025, charging Brilhante alongside [[Hector Bermudez]], [[Zachary Dosch]], [[Rumaldo Valdez]], and [[Camden Rodriguez]]. The case number is 1:25-cr-00361 (PKC). The 10-count indictment charged: engaging in a child exploitation enterprise under [[18 U.S.C. § 2252A(g)]], conspiracy to produce child pornography, conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, and conspiracy to communicate interstate threats. The alleged criminal conduct covered January 2020 through January 2021.[^1]
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A grand jury returned the indictment on November 18, 2025 and it was filed under seal, with the docket entry dated November 19.[^2][^3] On December 2 the indictment was unsealed in redacted form, and the Justice Department announced that the defendants "were arrested today throughout the United States and will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date."[^1][^2] The docket contains an entry dated December 3, 2025 reading "Arrest of David Brilhante in California-Southern."[^2] The docket of the [[Southern District of California]] magistrate case, 3:25-mj-06668, records an arrest on December 3, an initial appearance and detention entry on December 4, two orders setting conditions of release filed December 8, a notice of appeal to the district court on December 9, a waiver of Rule 5 hearings and a warrant of removal on December 22, and a transcript on December 29.[^4] A Rule 5(c)(3) packet received in the Eastern District of New York on December 22 included an arrest warrant dated December 2, 2025, a warrant of removal from the Southern District of California, and a pretrial services report.[^5]
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Greggy's Cult operated using coercion methods that directly informed the [[764 Network|764]] network's operational model. The group recruited minor victims through gaming platforms and social media, coerced them into producing [[CSAM]] on video, and blackmailed them with that material. [[NCITE]] tracked Greggy's Cult alongside [[CVLT]] and 764 as one of three connected precursor-successor networks accounting for 31 individuals publicly charged with federal crimes through December 2025.
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The government's December 10 motion states that Brilhante made his initial appearance in the Southern District of California on December 3, 2025, that pretrial services there recommended detention, and that a magistrate judge, [[Michael Berg]], granted release over the government's objection on a $750,000 property bond with home detention and computer restrictions. The motion cites the Southern District of California case as 3:25-mj-6668.[^6]
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No guilty plea or sentencing outcome for Brilhante was publicly reported as of May 2026.
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The same motion dates the magistrate's hearing to September 5, 2025 in its procedural history and dates the release order to December 5, 2025 in its opening paragraph and in footnote 2.[^6] The government's December 26 letter dates the release order to December 5, 2025, places Judge Berg in the "Central District of California," and says the release was stayed until December 10.[^7] An order of [[Pamela K. Chen]] dated December 17, 2025 refers to a September 5, 2025 bail decision by a magistrate judge of the "Central District of California," and her December 18 order refers to Judge Berg's order of September 5, 2025.[^5][^8] The defense memorandum places the magistrate court in the Southern District of California and cites the December 5 order.[^9]
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### Federal Charges
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Brilhante is named in Counts One, Two and Three of the indictment; the docket's count list places him in Counts One through Three only.[^2][^3] Count One charges engaging in a child exploitation enterprise under [[18 U.S.C. § 2252A(g)]] and lists seventeen predicate violations. Brilhante is named in three of them. Violations One and Four charge sexual exploitation of a minor under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a), each committed by Brilhante together with [[Zachary Dosch]]. Violation Three charges Brilhante, together with others, with access with intent to view child pornography ([[CSAM]]) under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B).[^3]
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Count Two charges conspiracy to sexually exploit children under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251(a) and 2251(e), and Count Three charges conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(2) and 2252(b)(1). Both counts cover January 2020 through January 2021.[^3] The Justice Department's December 2 release lists four offense types, including conspiracy to communicate interstate threats, for the defendants collectively.[^1]
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The government's December 10 motion states that the enterprise charge carries a twenty-year mandatory minimum and a maximum of life, and that the conspiracy under § 2251(e) carries a fifteen-year minimum and a thirty-year maximum.[^6] The December 2 letter describes the sexual exploitation charges as carrying a fifteen-year minimum and a maximum of life.[^10]
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### Government Allegations of Role
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The government's December 2 detention letter describes Greggy's Cult as a group that convened on Discord servers, directed minor victims on video calls to engage in sexually explicit or degrading conduct, and captured the conduct as screenshots and screen recordings shared among members.[^10] The December 10 motion attributes to Brilhante a specific role. It alleges that he targeted minors online, persuaded them to send pictures of themselves, manipulated them into sending further material, then edited the pictures and shared them online to torment the victims.[^6]
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The motion further alleges that on at least one occasion a co-defendant directed a minor victim on a live video call while livestreaming the call to a wider audience that included Brilhante, and that Brilhante gave the co-defendant directions that the co-defendant then relayed to the victim. According to the motion, this arrangement allowed Brilhante to work with co-conspirators to abuse children when he could not do so himself.[^6] The motion also states that three reports from the [[National Center for Missing and Exploited Children]] show Brilhante using three different accounts, each a variant of his "Knight" alias, to share one image depicting a minor.[^6]
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### Later Conduct Alleged by the Government
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The government's December 10 motion and December 2 letter allege that two further reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, dated in or about August 2024 and September 2024, concerned an account that law enforcement identified as Brilhante, and the government characterizes the reported conduct as continuing after the charged period.[^6][^10] A footnote to the December 10 motion states that the account holder gave a false date of birth consistent with being a minor and that the material at issue appears consistent with an adult. A separate footnote states that during a post-arrest interview, after waiving his Miranda rights, Brilhante confirmed that the email associated with the reported account was his.[^6]
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The motion also cites payment-record notes from 2023 through 2025 that it reads as references to sexually explicit material and to a commercial sexual encounter, and states that after his arrest Brilhante admitted to having been banned from multiple financial accounts.[^6]
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The December 2 letter also cites an April 3, 2025 report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children from a tipster who stated, in substance, that Brilhante, using the alias "Knight," had previously engaged in child exploitation conduct and was still engaged in it.[^10] The December 10 motion quotes the same tipster, who identified "Knight" as "David," and reported that "oHare and Knight are still up to their disgusting deeds."[^6] The tipster's report focused on co-defendant [[Camden Rodriguez]].[^6]
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### Defense Account and Release Conditions
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The defense memorandum argues that the government's facts on Brilhante "are draped in qualifiers and involve past investigations and anonymous reports." It states that two rounds of discovery had not produced reports, witness statements or videos substantiating the allegations, and it states that he has no criminal history.[^9]
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The defense proposed release conditions that it described as consistent with, though more stringent than, the magistrate's order: home detention with travel restricted to San Diego County and the Eastern District of New York, a $750,000 bond secured by a trust deed on real property, no access to a computer, smartphone or the internet, residence at an approved address, and surrender of his passport.[^9]
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The government's December 26 letter argues that the defendant's conduct as alleged included identifying and grooming victims for members of Greggy's Cult to exploit, and it cites records of conduct as recent as August 2024 and April 2025. It states that the defendant was pending transfer to the Eastern District of New York and that discovery had been limited to materials for an identity hearing in the Southern District of California.[^7]
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### Detention, Bond and Release
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On December 18, 2025 Judge Chen stayed Brilhante's release pending the government's appeal.[^5] On January 8, 2026, at a hearing held by video with Brilhante in custody and his appearance waived, the court granted bond "for the reasons stated on the record" and set a $1,000,000 bond.[^11] On January 9 the court set conditions of release and a $1,000,000 secured bond and ordered him released from custody of the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]], and authorized his travel to California.[^11]
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The January 8 bond hearing was recorded and posted to [[YouTube]]. Counsel reported the posting to the court by email on March 31, 2026, and the court's April 7 order took no action at that time, directing that such matters be reported by filed letter.[^12]
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### Docket Status
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On March 2, 2026 Brilhante appeared by telephone at a status conference, on bond, and the court excluded time through April 30, 2026 for the production and review of discovery and the joining of co-defendants.[^12] On April 30, 2026 he again appeared by telephone, on bond, and the court set the next conference for August 10, 2026, excluding time from April 30 through August 10 for the production and review of discovery.[^12] The docket lists a government letter dated May 8, 2026 on the first global Rule 16 production, and a status conference on August 10, 2026.[^2] The last entry on the docket, entry 106, is dated September 22, 2026 and is a notice of attorney appearance for a defendant.[^2]
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### Co-defendants
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The indictment names six defendants: [[Hector Bermudez]], Brilhante, Zachary Dosch, Camden Rodriguez, [[Rumaldo Valdez]] and [[Austin Yatco]]. Bermudez was ordered detained on December 4, 2025 and was released on a $350,000 secured bond on December 12, 2025.[^2] Dosch was arraigned on March 3, 2026, entered not-guilty pleas on all counts, and was ordered detained.[^2] Rodriguez was arraigned on March 3, 2026, entered not-guilty pleas on all counts, and was released on a $400,000 secured bond on March 6, 2026.[^2] Valdez was in custody in the [[District of Hawaii]] awaiting sentencing in a separate case, 1:25-cr-112, when the government filed its December 2 letter.[^6][^10]
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Yatco, also known as "Hairy Lips," is listed on the docket's count list as defendant six, in Counts One through Eight. A January 23, 2026 order granted the government's request for an amended arrest warrant as to Yatco and vacated the prior arrest order, and on February 27, 2026 Judge Chen ordered the indictment and arrest warrant unsealed as to him on the government's application of February 26.[^2][^13]
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### Network Context
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The government's December 2 letter states that Greggy's Cult is a precursor to [[764 Network|764]].[^10] The Justice Department's release states that Greggy's Cult "came into existence before another sadistic extortion network, 764," and that prominent members of 764 and similar later networks were also members of Greggy's Cult.[^1]
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[[NCITE]] reports that as of December 20, 2025, thirty-three individuals had been publicly charged in the United States for activity associated with 764, [[CVLT]] and Greggy's Cult, and that thirty-one of them had been charged federally.[^14][^15] NCITE states that all federal indictments of CVLT and Greggy's Cult defendants occurred between January and December 2025, although their primary activity occurred between 2019 and 2021.[^14] The report states that every defendant charged under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(g) across the three groups was identified as a leader or administrator.[^14]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: DOJ OPA. "Five Leaders of 'Greggy's Cult' Charged with Sexually Exploiting Children on the Internet." December 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/five-leaders-greggys-cult-charged-sexually-exploiting-children-internet; United States v. Bermudez et al., 1:25-cr-00361 (PKC) (E.D.N.Y.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71984626/united-states-v-bermudez/
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[^1]: DOJ OPA. "Five Leaders of 'Greggy's Cult' Charged with Sexually Exploiting Children on the Internet." Press release 25-1131, December 2, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/five-leaders-greggys-cult-charged-sexually-exploiting-children-internet
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[^2]: United States v. Bermudez et al., 1:25-cr-00361 (PKC) (E.D.N.Y.), CourtListener docket 71984626, entries 1 through 106 as viewed October 9, 2026 (last known filing September 22, 2026), including entries 1, 8, 9, 14, 26, 37, 41 and 42, the December 3, 2025 entry "Arrest of David Brilhante in California-Southern," the January 23, 2026 order for an amended arrest warrant, the February 27, 2026 unsealing order (entry 71), the March 2 and April 30 minutes, the arraignment and detention entries of March 3 and the bond entries of March 6, 2026, and entry 106. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71984626/united-states-v-bermudez/
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[^3]: Indictment, United States v. Bermudez et al., 1:25-cr-00361 (PKC) (E.D.N.Y.), ECF 8 (redacted, filed December 2, 2025; indictment filed November 18, 2025). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956.8.0_1.pdf
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[^4]: United States v. Brilhante, 3:25-mj-06668 (S.D. Cal.), CourtListener docket 71994075, entries 1 through 27 as viewed October 9, 2026. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71994075/united-states-v-brilhante/
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[^5]: Docket order of Judge Pamela K. Chen, December 18, 2025, staying release; Rule 5(c)(3) documents received, entry 42, December 22, 2025; scheduling order of December 23, 2025. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71984626/united-states-v-bermudez/
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[^6]: Government's letter appealing the release order and moving to stay, ECF 26, December 10, 2025, including footnotes 2, 3, 9 and 10. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956.26.0.pdf
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[^7]: Government's letter in opposition to the defendant's request for bail, ECF 44, December 26, 2025. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956.44.0.pdf
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[^8]: Docket order of Judge Pamela K. Chen, December 17, 2025, in United States v. Bermudez et al., 1:25-cr-00361 (PKC) (E.D.N.Y.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71984626/united-states-v-bermudez/
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[^9]: Defendant's motion to deny the government's appeal and memorandum of law, ECF 43, December 24, 2025, with the proposed conditions of release. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956.43.0.pdf
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[^10]: Letter from AUSA Antoinette N. Rangel and Trial Attorney Gwendelynn Bills requesting a permanent order of detention, ECF 14, December 2, 2025. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956.14.0.pdf
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[^11]: Minute entries of January 8, 2026 (bond appeal hearing) and January 9, 2026 (bond hearing), and sealed order setting conditions of release and bond, entry 46, January 9, 2026. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71984626/united-states-v-bermudez/
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[^12]: Minute entry of March 2, 2026 (status conference); order of March 16, 2026; order of April 7, 2026 on the recorded bond hearing; minute entry of April 30, 2026 (status conference). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71984626/united-states-v-bermudez/
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[^13]: Order unsealing the indictment and arrest warrant as to Austin Yatco, ECF 71, February 27, 2026. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.538957/gov.uscourts.nyed.538957.71.0.pdf
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[^14]: NCITE, "Prosecuting 764: An Examination of Federal and State Charges," University of Nebraska Omaha, December 2025, data as of December 20, 2025. https://www.unomaha.edu/ncite/news/2025/12/img/prosecuting-nve-report.pdf
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[^15]: NCITE, "Prosecuting 764: An Examination of Federal and State Charges," landing page, December 2025. https://www.unomaha.edu/ncite/news/2025/12/764-landing-page.php
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