What Sentence Follows an Air Force Burglary and Unlawful Entry Conviction?
From 2021 to 2025, 11 Air Force courts-martial ended in a conviction under Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry). 55% of these cases were contested, compared with 32% of all Air Force convictions in those years.
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Short answer: From 2021 to 2025, 11 Air Force courts-martial ended in a conviction under Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry). 55% of these cases were contested, compared with 32% of all Air Force convictions in those years. 36% of the convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, lower than the 59% Air Force-wide.
More Cases Were Contested
6 of the 11 accused entered a not-guilty or mixed plea, and 5 pleaded guilty. A case counts as contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share, 55%, was higher than the 32% for all Air Force convictions from 2021 to 2025.
45% of the cases with the forum listed went to members: 4 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. A military judge alone decided the other 6.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
4 of the 11 convicted enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (36%). 2 of those 4 were dishonorable. Across all Air Force convictions in those years, the share was 59%.
A sentence without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation. The court-martial records do not show those separations.
Confinement Close to the Air Force Median
9 of the 11 sentences included confinement (82%). The median was 4 months, close to the 5 months for all Air Force convictions in those years. A quarter of the sentences that included confinement were 5 months or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers all the charges in the case.
Mostly Special Courts-Martial
3 of the 11 cases were general courts-martial (27%). Across all Air Force convictions in those years, 52% were general courts-martial. The rest of these cases were special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Charges That Came With Article 129
Article 129 was the only charge in 2 of the 11 cases. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 4. Article 115 (communicating threats), Article 128 (assault), Article 109 (property damage), and Article 92 (orders violation) each appeared in 2.
Rank and Yearly Counts
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 73% of the accused and NCOs were 27%. No officers appear here. Junior enlisted members were 63% of all Air Force convictions in those years.
The cases were tried from May 2021 to December 2025: 3 in 2021, 0 in 2022, 2 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 4 in 2025.
Limits of the Records
Since December 28, 2023, new rules on who decides to prosecute certain offenses and on sentencing apply based on the offense date. The records give only trial dates, so trials from 2024 on mix cases under the old and new rules.
The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial. Air Force records never report plea agreements and rarely list the charges in a full acquittal, so this page gives no acquittal figures for this offense.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial tried 2021–2025: ending in a conviction under Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry) (11 cases), compared with all Air Force convictions 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 129 (Burglary Before 2019, Burglary and Unlawful Entry Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Sentences (hub)
- What Sentence Follows an Army Burglary and Unlawful Entry Conviction? (another service)
- Article 129 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025 (another service)
- Article 118 Sentences in the Air Force: Confinement and Discharges, 2016–2025
- Article 128b Sentences in the Air Force: Confinement and Discharges, 2016–2025
- Article 80 Sentences in the Air Force: Confinement and Discharges, 2016–2025
- 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.