Communicating Threats Plus Larceny: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 115 and 121
Between 2021–2026, 10 courts-martial in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps charged both Article 115 (malingering before 2019; communicating threats since) and Article 121 (larceny).
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Trends › By Offense › Article 115 › With Article 121
Short answer: Between 2021–2026, 10 courts-martial in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps charged both Article 115 (malingering before 2019; communicating threats since) and Article 121 (larceny). 90% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 67% in all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115. Every case ended in a conviction on at least one charge.
Bad-Conduct Discharges in 9 Cases
A punitive discharge followed 90% of enlisted convictions here: 9 bad-conduct discharges and 0 dishonorable discharges. The share in all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115 was 67%.
A bad-conduct discharge is less severe than a dishonorable discharge, and a special court-martial can impose only the bad-conduct discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Confinement
All 10 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 9 of those sentences included confinement (90%). The median was 10 months, longer than the 6 months median in all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115. Among the sentences that included confinement, a quarter were 11 months or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in each case.
Pleas
Guilty pleas resolved 6 cases, and 4 were contested with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share of 40% compares with 37% in all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115.
Charges Filed With Article 115
None of the 10 cases charged Article 115 by itself, compared with 14 of 242 in all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115. Article 121 appears in all 10. Article 134 (general article) and Article 107 (false official statement) each appeared in 4 cases, and Article 120 (sexual assault) and Article 128b (domestic violence) each appeared in 3.
Rank and Type of Court
By rank, the accused were 7 junior enlisted members and 3 NCOs, with no officers. The group is more junior than all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115.
General courts-martial heard 5 of the 10 cases (50%), compared with 55% for Article 115 cases overall. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Years, Law Changes, and Limits
Trials took place from January 2021 to July 2026. By year: 2021: 5, 2022: 2, 2023: 1, 2024: 1, 2025: 0, and 2026: 1, with 2026 incomplete.
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and military judges sentence within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records list trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied to a given trial.
Nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations are not in these records, and the records do not describe evidence or plea terms.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 115 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 115 and Article 121 (10 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 115 (Malingering Before 2019, Communicating Threats Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Article 121 (Larceny): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Communicating Threats Plus Assault: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 115 and 128
- When Article 115 and Article 128b Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- When Article 115 and Article 92 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- Army Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Air Force Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Article 115 explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Theft and Fraud by Dollar Loss: Federal Sentences vs. Article 121 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.