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# Attempt Plus Conspiracy: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 80 and 81
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-80-and-article-81-charged-together/
- Published: 2026-10-28T06:55:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T08:14:56.000Z
- Description: Most cases that charged attempt (Article 80) together with conspiracy (Article 81) ended in a guilty plea. Of 45 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2014–2026, 23% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 33% for all Article 80 cases.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 80, Article 81

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 80](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-80-courts-martial/) › With Article 81

**Short answer:** Most cases that charged attempt (Article 80) together with conspiracy (Article 81) ended in a guilty plea. Of 45 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2014–2026, 23% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 33% for all Article 80 cases. The median confinement was 1.1 years, slightly shorter than the 1.3 years for all attempt cases.

Based on 45 cases · 2014–2026 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Most of the Accused Pleaded Guilty

Of the 31 records that list a plea, 24 show a guilty plea and 7 show a not-guilty plea to at least one charge. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share, 23%, is lower than the 33% across all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 80.

Of the 45 cases, 43 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. There are very few contested cases, so the records do not support a comparison of verdicts.

## Confinement in Almost Every Sentence

Of the 43 convictions, 41 included confinement (95%). The median confinement was 1.1 years, slightly shorter than the 1.3-year median for all attempt cases. A quarter of the terms were 2.3 years or longer. Of the sentences, 1 was a life sentence.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, not only the attempt and conspiracy charges.

## Sentences by Length

Terms of more than 1 year followed 22 of 43 convictions (51%), about the same as the 52% for all Article 80 cases. Terms of more than 1 year but under 5 years followed 15 convictions (35%), the same as the comparison share. Terms of 5 years or more followed 7 convictions (16%), compared with 17%.

The main difference is in terms just under 1 year. Terms from 6 months to 1 year followed 12 convictions (28%), compared with 20%. Only 2 convictions (5%) included no confinement, compared with 10%.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 80 |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 2           | 5%         | 10%                                                               |
| Under 6 months                  | 7           | 16%        | 18%                                                               |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 12          | 28%        | 20%                                                               |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 15          | 35%        | 35%                                                               |
| 5 years or more                 | 7           | 16%        | 17%                                                               |

## Sentences at Each Court Level

General courts-martial heard 69% of these cases (31 of 45). Special courts-martial heard the other 14\. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at 1 year of confinement. It can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge.

The median confinement was 2 years at the 31 general courts-martial and 6 months at the 14 special courts-martial. A special court-martial cannot impose more than 1 year. So the longer terms in this group, including the life sentence, came from general courts-martial.

## Punitive Discharges

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. Of 43 convicted enlisted members, 37 received a punitive discharge: 23 bad-conduct discharges and 14 dishonorable discharges. For all attempt cases in these services, the share was 84%.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not include administrative separations. The punitive discharge figures are adjudged at trial, so clemency or appeal could later change some of them.

## An Enlisted, Mostly Junior Group

No officers were among the accused. There were 31 junior enlisted members and 14 NCOs. This group is more junior than all Article 80 cases. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up most of the accused.

The most common other charges were Article 112a (drug), in 17 cases, and Article 121 (larceny), in 14\. Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019) and Article 134 (general article) were charged in 10 each. Across all attempt cases, 116 of 622 charged Article 80 alone.

## Cases by Year and Installation

The 45 cases were tried from October 2014 to July 2026\. The highest yearly count was 10 cases in 2021\. There were 6 cases in both 2017 and 2022, and most other years had 1 to 5\. The 2026 count covers only part of the year.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 5 of these cases each. Bremerton, Washington, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, and Okinawa, Japan had 4 each. These five installations account for 49% of the total. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

## What the Data Leaves Out

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. Further changes for covered offenses began on December 28, 2023\. The records give only trial dates, so they cannot show which rules applied to a particular case.

Cases handled by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 80 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-80/?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, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial that charged both Article 80 and Article 81 (45 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](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 80 (Attempts): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-80-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [Article 81 (Conspiracy): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-81-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [When Article 80 and Article 92 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-80-and-article-92-charged-together/)
- [Articles 80 and 82 in the Same Case: What the Records Show](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-80-and-article-82-charged-together/)
- [Articles 80 and 90 in the Same Case: What the Records Show](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-80-and-article-90-charged-together/)
- [Army Article 80 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-80-trend-2021-2025/)
- [Fewer or More? Attempt Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-80-trend-2016-2025/)
- [Article 80 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-80/?ref=bodiesburied.com)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members)

**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.