Pleading Guilty to Article 112a in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed?
In 260 Air Force cases where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 112a (drug), the median confinement was 2 months. The median across all Air Force guilty pleas was 4 months.
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Short answer: In 260 Air Force cases where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 112a (drug), the median confinement was 2 months. The median across all Air Force guilty pleas was 4 months. 48% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 60% for all Air Force guilty pleas.
Most Confinement Terms Were Short
The Air Force records include 260 courts-martial from January 2020 through December 2025 in which the accused pleaded guilty to charges that included Article 112a, the drug offense article. Each one ended in a conviction on at least one charge. 94% of the 260 convictions included confinement. Half of the terms were 2 months or less, compared with a 4-month median across all Air Force guilty pleas.
198 of the 260 convictions (76%) were sentenced to under 6 months, compared with 55% across Air Force guilty pleas. Only 11 (4%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 22%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force guilty pleas in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 16 | 6% | 7% |
| Under 6 months | 198 | 76% | 55% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 35 | 13% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 7 | 3% | 17% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 2% | 5% |
Punitive Discharges Were Less Common
118 of 248 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge. That is 48%, compared with 60% across Air Force guilty pleas. 112 were bad-conduct discharges and 6 were dishonorable.
Officers are a small part of this group. 7 of 12 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not track administrative separations.
Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial
Special courts-martial tried 217 of the 260 cases, and general courts-martial tried 43. The general court-martial share was 17%, much lower than the 43% across all Air Force guilty pleas.
The median confinement was 7 months in the general courts-martial and 2 months in the special courts-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be heard by a military judge alone, with confinement capped at six months and no punitive discharge.
Many Cases Charged Only the Drug Offense
Article 112a was the only charge in 150 of the 260 cases. When other charges were included, the most common were Article 92 (orders violation) in 50 cases, Article 86 (AWOL) in 26, Article 134 (general article) in 18, Article 107 (false official statement) in 17, and Article 128 (assault) in 13.
The sentence covers every charge, so a case with other charges may include punishment for more than the drug offense. In the 150 cases where the drug charge was the only charge, the adjudged sentence is for the drug conviction alone.
Rank of the Accused and Who Decided Guilt
208 of the accused were junior enlisted members, 40 were NCOs, and 12 were officers. This group is more junior than all Air Force guilty pleas in those years.
A military judge alone decided all 260 cases with the forum listed. A military judge usually accepts a guilty plea, so this figure follows from the plea.
Cases Came From Many Bases
JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, had the most cases, with 15. Shaw AFB, South Carolina, McConnell AFB, Kansas, and Dyess AFB, Texas, each had 11, and Nellis AFB, Nevada, had 10. These installations had only 22% of the 260 cases. The rest came from many other installations. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Fewer Cases Each Year Since 2021
There were 59 cases in 2020 and 59 in 2021. There were 53 in 2022, 38 in 2023, 24 in 2024, and 27 in 2025. The records cannot show the reason for the decrease.
There are 0 cases from 2016 to 2019. Air Force records from those years rarely list a guilty plea, so this group starts in 2020. The records also give trial dates rather than offense dates. A trial in one year may concern drug use in an earlier year.
Law Changes and What the Records Do Not Show
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records give only trial dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and new rules.
Air Force records never report plea agreements, so any cap on these sentences is unknown. The records also do not show the evidence or cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 112a on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial tried 2016–2025: where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 112a (drug) (260 cases), compared with all Air Force guilty pleas in those years.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Sentences (hub)
- Are Air Force Drug Courts-Martial Disappearing? Article 112a, 2016–2025
- How Much Confinement for an Article 112a Conviction in the Air Force?
- Guilty Pleas in Army Drug Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (another service)
- When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Guilty to Drug (another service)
- Guilty Pleas in Air Force Child Sexual Abuse Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- S3 E52: What You Need to Know About Positive UAs in the Military (podcast, members)
- Article 112a explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Drug Use: Federal Sentences vs. Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025 · Drug Distribution: Federal Sentences vs. Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.