Drug Plus Attempt: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 112a and 80

Trends › By Offense › Article 112a › With Article 80

Based on 60 cases · 2014–2026 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Longer Confinement When an Attempt Was Charged

Article 80 covers attempts to commit an offense. In these records, cases that charged an attempt with a drug offense had longer sentences than drug cases overall. All 60 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 57 of those sentences included confinement (95%).

The median confinement was 1 year. For all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a, the median was 5 months. A quarter of the sentences in this group were 2.7 years or longer.

Equal Numbers of General and Special Courts-Martial

30 cases were general courts-martial and 30 were special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 50%, compared with 27% for all Article 112a cases. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

The median confinement was 2.8 years at general courts-martial and 6 months at special courts-martial. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year, so all of the longest sentences in this group came from those 30 cases.

Sentences by Length

Sentences longer than one year were given in 26 of 60 convictions (43%), compared with 16% in the comparison group. 8 convictions included 5 years or more.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case. The table compares each length of confinement with the share for all Article 112a cases. Sentences under 6 months made up 25% of convictions here, compared with 47% for all Article 112a cases.

More Guilty Pleas Than Contested Cases

The plea is listed in 44 records: 35 were guilty pleas and 9 were contested. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, through a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea. The contested share was 20%, about the same as the 18% for all Article 112a cases.

Most contested cases were at general courts-martial. 38% of general courts-martial were contested, compared with 4% of special courts-martial. Every case ended in a conviction, so the records report no acquittal rate for this pairing.

Punitive Discharges Were More Common

A punitive discharge was part of the sentence in 81% of enlisted convictions, compared with 70% for all Article 112a cases. There were 32 bad-conduct discharges and 16 dishonorable discharges.

The records list 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation.

Rank of the Accused

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 82% of the accused, NCOs 17%, and officers 2%. For all Article 112a cases in these services, junior enlisted members were 76%. This group had a slightly higher share of junior enlisted members.

There was 1 officer in the group. Almost every sentence and discharge figure here describes an enlisted member, most often one in grades E-1 to E-4.

Conspiracy, Assault, and Other Charges

Many of these cases included charges beyond the drug and attempt charges. Article 81 (conspiracy) was charged in 17, Article 92 (orders violation) in 14, Article 128 (assault) in 13, and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 9. Each sentence covers all charges of conviction, so these other charges are part of the figures above.

Years and Installations

Trials took place from October 2014 to October 2026. The highest count was 16 in 2021, and there were 9 in 2018. Since 2023, there have been 1 or 2 cases a year. The 2026 count covers part of the year.

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 7 cases and Norfolk, Virginia had 6. San Diego, California, Bremerton, Washington, and Camp Pendleton, California had 5 each. These 5 installations account for 47% of the 60 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

What the Records Do Not Show

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It added written plea agreements and judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months. Newer prosecution and sentencing rules have applied since December 28, 2023. Both depend on offense dates, which these records do not give. The data cannot show whether either change affected these cases.

The records also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. They do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.

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. Federal Law Has No Crime of Drug Use: How Article 112a Cases Compare · Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025

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.