Article 112a With Article 131b in the Army: What the Records Show

Trends › By Offense › Article 112a › Army, with Article 131b

Based on 16 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

No Case Went to a Panel

A military judge alone decided all 16 cases. No enlisted or officer panel appears. Members heard 0% of these cases, compared with 8% of all Army Article 112a cases in 2021–2025.

Pleas and Plea Agreements

14 accused pleaded guilty, and 2 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea. That is 12% contested, compared with 14% in Army Article 112a cases overall.

12 of the 14 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 2 have no entry. The records say whether an agreement existed but not what it said.

Confinement

Of 16 convictions, 15 carried confinement. The median term was 6 months, about the same as the 5 months for Army-wide Article 112a cases. A quarter of the terms with confinement were 1.9 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.

Punitive Discharges

A punitive discharge followed 75% of enlisted convictions: 10 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. The rate in Army Article 112a cases overall was 81%, so a punitive discharge was less common in this group. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Court Level

General courts-martial made up 50% of these cases (8 of 16). The rest were special courts-martial. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement.

Charges Beyond Drugs and Obstruction

All 16 cases charged another article besides Article 112a. Across all Army Article 112a cases, 69 of 226 charged it alone. In this group, Article 134, the general article, appeared in 6 cases. Article 90, disobeying an officer, appeared in 5. Article 92, orders violation, and Article 81, conspiracy, each appeared in 4.

Rank and Trial Years

The accused were 11 junior enlisted members and 5 NCOs. No officers appear. The group was more senior than Army-wide Article 112a cases.

Trials ran from January 2021 to January 2025: 5 in 2021, 4 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 3 in 2024, and 1 in 2025.

Rule Changes During These Years

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 in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both changes depend on the offense date, so the trials from 2024 and 2025 could fall under either set of rules.

What the Records Cannot Tell

These are cases that reached a courtroom. Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they give trial dates rather than offense dates.

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.

Compare: federal court. Drug Use: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial · Drug Distribution: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial · Obstruction of Justice: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial

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.