What Sentence Follows an Air Force Communicating Threats Conviction?

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Based on 34 cases · 2021–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

Almost Every Sentence Included Confinement

33 of the 34 convictions included confinement, a rate of 97%. Only 1 conviction (3%) had no confinement, compared with 13% across all Air Force convictions in these years.

The median confinement was 6 months, and a quarter of the terms were 1 year or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.

More Sentences of 6 Months to 1 Year

12 convictions (35%) were sentenced to 6 months to 1 year, much higher than the 16% across Air Force convictions. 38% were sentenced to under 6 months, lower than the 46% Air Force-wide.

8 of 34 convictions (24%) were sentenced to more than one year, about the same as the 26% Air Force-wide. 6 of those were more than 1 year and under 5 years, and 2 were 5 years or more.

Assault and Domestic Violence Were Often Charged Too

33 of the 34 cases charged at least one other article with Article 115. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 16 cases and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 15. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 8, Article 92 (orders violation) in 7, and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 5.

The sentence covers every charge. These sentences therefore usually include punishment for other offenses, often assault or domestic violence, as well as the threat.

More General Courts-Martial Than Air Force-Wide

20 of the 34 cases were general courts-martial and 14 were special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 59%, higher than the 52% across all Air Force convictions. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge.

In the general courts-martial, the median confinement was 10 months and 35% of cases were contested. In the special courts-martial, the median was 3 months and 23% were contested. Since 2019, a special court-martial may also be heard by a military judge alone, with confinement capped at six months and no punitive discharge. The figures on this page do not separate those judge-alone special courts-martial from the others.

Punitive Discharges

All 34 people convicted were enlisted members. 20 of them (59%) received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, the same as the 59% across Air Force convictions. 2 of those 20 were dishonorable discharges, which only a general court-martial can adjudge.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Pleas, Who Decided Guilt, and Rank

33 of the 34 records list a plea. There were 23 guilty pleas and 10 not-guilty or mixed pleas. 30% were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge.

Of the 10 contested cases, 5 ended in a partial acquittal (50%): the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.

A military judge alone decided guilt in 29 of 34 cases (85%). Members heard 5, and all were enlisted panels. Members heard 5 of the 10 contested cases (50%). The accused usually chooses the forum, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

The accused were 23 junior enlisted members and 11 NCOs, with 0 officers. This group is more junior than Air Force convictions overall.

Cases by Year and Base

The cases were tried from April 2021 through December 2025. There were 7 in 2021, 8 in 2022, 11 in 2023, 5 in 2024, and 3 in 2025. The records give trial dates, not offense dates.

Creech AFB, Nevada, had 3 cases. JB Langley-Eustis, Virginia, Ramstein AB, Germany, JB Andrews, Maryland, and Osan AB, South Korea, each had 2. These installations had 32% of the 34 cases. Counts this small say little about any single base. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

What the Records Do Not Show

Air Force records rarely list the charges in a case that ends in a full acquittal, so this page gives no acquittal rate for threat charges. The records do not describe the evidence, never report plea agreements, and do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as domestic violence. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. Both depend on offense dates, which the records do not give, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and new rules.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 115 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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.