Pleading Guilty to Article 117a in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed?
The records hold 11 Air Force courts-martial from 2016–2025 where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 117a (intimate image).
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Short answer: The records hold 11 Air Force courts-martial from 2016–2025 where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 117a (intimate image). 9 of 10 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (90%), compared with 60% for all Air Force guilty pleas in those years, and the median confinement was 9 months, compared with 4 months.
Punitive Discharges in 9 of 10 Enlisted Convictions
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for enlisted members. Among 10 enlisted members convicted in this group, 9 received one (90%). The rate for all Air Force guilty pleas in those years was 60%.
3 of the 9 punitive discharges were dishonorable discharges. The group also includes 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Confinement Terms
All 11 convictions included confinement (100%). The median confinement was 9 months, compared with 4 months across all Air Force guilty pleas in those years. Among the sentences with confinement, a quarter were 1.5 years or longer.
The sentences are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in each case.
General Courts-Martial Heard 6 of 11
General courts-martial heard 6 of these cases and special courts-martial heard 5. The general court-martial share was 55%, higher than the 43% for all Air Force guilty pleas in those years. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge.
Other Charges in the Same Cases
Article 117a was the only charge in 2 of the 11 cases. Article 134 (general article) and Article 92 (orders violation) each appeared in 4 cases. Article 120c (indecent recording and exposure), Article 128 (assault), and Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019) each appeared in 3.
Rank of the Accused
8 of the accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 2 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. That mix was more junior than all Air Force guilty pleas in those years, where 68% were junior enlisted. The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided guilt in all 11 cases.
Trial Dates
The 11 trials took place between February 2022 and July 2025. 7 of them were in 2022, followed by 1 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 1 in 2025. No cases appear in the records from 2016 through 2021.
Changes in the Law
Written plea agreements, fixed panel sizes, and judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge came with the Military Justice Act of 2016, effective January 1, 2019. Offenses from before 2019 kept the old rules.
Commanders lost the prosecution decision for covered offenses on December 28, 2023. Special trial counsel now make it for crimes such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. A military judge sets the sentence under new parameters when every guilty finding involves conduct after December 27, 2023. Because offense dates are missing, the 2024 and 2025 trials in this group cannot be sorted by which rules applied.
What Is Missing
These records cover courts-martial only. Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence, and Air Force records do not report plea agreements.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial tried 2016–2025: where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 117a (intimate image) (11 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 117a (Wrongful Broadcast of Intimate Visual Images): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Sentences (hub)
- How Has Article 117a Changed in Air Force Courts-Martial Since 2016?
- What Sentence Follows an Air Force Intimate Image Conviction?
- Guilty Pleas in Army Intimate Image Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (another service)
- When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Guilty to Intimate Image (another service)
- Guilty Pleas in Air Force Child Sexual Abuse Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.