When Article 112a and Article 85 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
The records show 28 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2014–2025 that charged both Article 112a (drug) and Article 85 (desertion).
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Trends › By Offense › Article 112a › With Article 85
Short answer: The records show 28 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2014–2025 that charged both Article 112a (drug) and Article 85 (desertion). Every conviction included confinement, but the median term was 3 months, shorter than the 5 months in all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a. A punitive discharge followed 73% of enlisted convictions, compared with 70%.
Short Confinement Terms, Imposed in Every Case
All 28 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and confinement was part of 100% of the 28 sentences. Half of those terms were 3 months or less. In all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a, the median was 5 months.
A quarter of the terms here were 7 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences: the sentence announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case, not only the drug and desertion charges.
Few Terms Longer Than One Year
Only 1 of the 28 convictions (4%) carried more than one year of confinement. Across all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a, the figure was 16%.
Most terms were in the lowest band. 19 convictions (68%) carried under 6 months, compared with 47% for all Article 112a cases. Another 8 (29%) carried 6 months to 1 year, compared with 27%. No conviction here fell in the band of more than 1 year and under 5 years (0%, compared with 13%). The 1 longer term was 5 years or more.
No conviction here was without confinement (0%). In all Article 112a cases, 10% of convictions carried no confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 0 | 0% | 10% |
| Under 6 months | 19 | 68% | 47% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 8 | 29% | 27% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 0 | 0% | 13% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 3% |
Discharges After Conviction
Of the convicted enlisted members, 73% received a punitive discharge: 17 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. The share for all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a was 70%.
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. The officer equivalent is a dismissal. The records include 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Mostly Special Courts-Martial
General courts-martial heard 5 of the 27 cases with a court level listed (19%). The court level is not listed for 1 case. Special courts-martial heard the rest.
The court level sets the sentence limits. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.
Who Was Charged
By rank, the accused were 25 junior enlisted members, 1 NCO, and 2 officers. The sheet describes this group as more junior than all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a.
Pleas
The plea is listed in 26 of the 28 records. In 21 of those, the accused pleaded guilty. In 5, the case was contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge.
The contested share was 19%. In all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a, it was 18%.
Other Charges in These Cases
No case charged Article 112a alone. Besides Article 85, the charges seen most often were Article 86 (AWOL) in 12 cases, Article 87 (missing movement) in 5, Article 92 (orders violation) in 4, and Article 121 (larceny) in 3.
Trial Years and Installations
The cases were tried from July 2014 to December 2025. The yearly counts were 1 in 2014, 1 in 2016, 2 in 2017, 1 in 2018, 2 in 2020, 7 in 2021, 9 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 1 in 2024, and 1 in 2025. No cases were recorded in 2015 or 2019.
Norfolk, Virginia had the most cases (9). Next were Bremerton, Washington (5), San Diego, California (3), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (2), and Fort Hood (2). These five locations account for 75% of the 28 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show a problem with these offenses at a base.
Rules and Limits of the Records
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and brought in written plea agreements. Cases with offenses from before 2019 kept the old rules. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied in each case.
The records cover only cases that reached a court-martial. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases with no action do not appear. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.
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.
How We Counted
Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial that charged both Article 112a and Article 85 (28 cases). Air Force cases are left out because Air Force records rarely list the charges in acquittals.
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 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Article 85 (Desertion): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Drug Plus Orders Violation: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 112a and 92
- When Article 112a and Article 81 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- Drug Plus AWOL: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 112a and 86
- Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Are Air Force Drug Courts-Martial Disappearing? Article 112a, 2016–2025
- Article 112a explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.