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# Army Article 121 Cases in 2024
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-2024/
- Published: 2026-10-28T08:17:10.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T01:46:33.000Z
- Description: Almost all Army larceny courts-martial in 2024 were guilty pleas. Of 32 cases charging Article 121, 1 was contested (3%), compared with 27% for all Army cases.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 121, Army

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 121](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-121-courts-martial/) › Army, 2024

**Short answer:** Almost all Army larceny courts-martial in 2024 were guilty pleas. Of 32 cases charging Article 121, 1 was contested (3%), compared with 27% for all Army cases. The median confinement was 2 months, compared with 6 months, and 59% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 72%.

Based on 32 cases · 2024 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Only 1 Contested Case

31 accused pleaded guilty, and 1 case was contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 3%, compared with 27% for the Army as a whole in 2024 and 16% for larceny cases in 2023.

Plea agreements are recorded for 30 of the 31 guilty pleas, and 1 has no entry. The records show whether an agreement existed, not its terms. Any limit an agreement set on confinement is not part of the figures here.

Every case in the group ended in a conviction. The records list 32 convictions.

## How Much Confinement?

27 of 32 convictions included confinement. The median confinement was 2 months. A quarter of the sentences were 4 months or longer. For all Army cases in 2024, the median was 6 months.

21 convictions (66%) were sentenced to under 6 months, compared with 43% Army-wide. 5 convictions (16%) had no confinement, close to the 13% for the Army. 3 of 32 convictions (9%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 28%. None was sentenced to 5 years or more.

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

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army cases in 2024 |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ----------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 5           | 16%        | 13%                           |
| Under 6 months                  | 21          | 66%        | 43%                           |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 3           | 9%         | 15%                           |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3           | 9%         | 21%                           |
| 5 years or more                 | 0           | 0%         | 7%                            |

## General and Special Courts-Martial

A general court-martial can adjudge any lawful sentence. A special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. This group had 10 general and 19 special courts-martial, and 3 cases did not list the level. The general share was 34%, compared with 75% for all Army cases in 2024.

At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 10 months, and 10% of cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median confinement was 37 days, and 0% of cases were contested.

## Punitive Discharges

17 of 29 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (59%), lower than the 72% for the Army. None was a dishonorable discharge. A bad-conduct discharge, the less severe form, can be adjudged at either court level.

1 of 3 convicted officers or warrant officers was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show.

## What Changed Since 2023?

The number of cases went from 25 in 2023 to 32 in 2024\. The contested share went from 16% to 3%. The median confinement went from 3 months to 2 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 65% to 59%.

Convictions with confinement were about the same, 83% and 84%. The general court-martial share was also about the same, 36% and 34%. In groups this small, a few cases can change a percentage.

|                                     | 2023     | 2024     |
| ----------------------------------- | -------- | -------- |
| Cases                               | 25       | 32       |
| Contested (of pleas recorded)       | 16%      | 3%       |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 4   | 0 of 1   |
| Convictions with confinement        | 83%      | 84%      |
| Median confinement                  | 3 months | 2 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted)       | 65%      | 59%      |
| General courts-martial              | 36%      | 34%      |

## Other Charges in the Same Cases

Article 121 was the only charge in 9 of 32 cases. Article 81 (conspiracy) was charged in 6, Article 128b (domestic violence) and Article 92 (orders violation) in 5 each, and Article 112a (drug) and Article 107 (false official statement) in 4 each.

A sentence covers every finding. The few longer sentences in this group may include confinement for these other offenses. The records do not split a sentence by charge.

## Forum, Rank, and Installations

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. In 2024, a military judge alone decided all 32 cases. Members heard 0% of these cases, compared with 15% of all Army cases that year.

By rank, 16 accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 13 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 3 were officers or warrant officers. That mix is more senior than the Army overall, where 53% were junior enlisted.

Fort Carson tried 6 of these cases, Fort Campbell 4, and Fort Bragg, Fort Bliss, and Fort Polk 3 each. Together they account for 59% of the 32 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

## Rule 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. Both rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. The 2024 trials therefore include cases under each set of rules.

The records also do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or thefts handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 121 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-121/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Army courts-martial with a trial date in 2024 that charged Article 121 (32 cases), compared with all Army cases that year and with 2023.

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

## Related Analysis

- [Article 121 (Larceny): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-121-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) (hub)
- [Larceny at Army Courts-Martial, 2023: The Year in Numbers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-2023/) (previous / next)
- [How Army Larceny Cases Ended in 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-2025/) (previous / next)
- [Army Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-trend-2021-2025/) (the full trend)
- [How Army Larceny Cases Ended in 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-2022/)
- [Larceny at Army Courts-Martial, 2021: The Year in Numbers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-2021/)
- [Article 121 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-sent-2021-2025/)
- [Article 121 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-121/?ref=bodiesburied.com)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members)

← Previous: [Larceny at Army Courts-Martial, 2023: The Year in Numbers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-2023/)Next: [How Army Larceny Cases Ended in 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-121-2025/) →

**Compare: federal court.** [Theft and Fraud: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-theft-fraud-vs-army/)

**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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.