When Article 81 and Article 92 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?

Trends › By Offense › Article 81 › With Article 92

Based on 77 cases · 2013–2026 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

No Full Acquittals in Contested Cases

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, whether to every charge or only some. In this group, 10 contested cases reached a verdict, and 0 ended in a full acquittal.

The full-acquittal rate across all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 81 was 25%. Not every contested case here ended in a conviction on all charges. 3 of the 10 (30%) were partial acquittals, where the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. There are only 10 contested cases with a verdict, so 1 outcome changes these shares by a large amount.

Pleas About the Same as in All Conspiracy Cases

Of the 77 cases, 52 records list the plea. Of those, 42 accused pleaded guilty and 10 contested at least one charge. The contested share was 19%.

For all cases charging Article 81, the contested share was 20%, about the same. The other 25 records do not show how the accused pleaded.

How Much Confinement?

There were 74 convictions, and 89% of them included confinement. The median confinement was 9 months, slightly longer than the 8 months for all cases charging Article 81. A quarter of the terms were 1.5 years or more.

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

Sentences by Length and Court Level

Terms of more than 1 year followed 24 of the 74 convictions (32%). That is more often than the 27% across all Article 81 cases. The table shows each length range next to the comparison group, from no confinement to 5 years or more.

A special court-martial cannot impose more than 1 year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. The median confinement was 1.5 years at the 37 general courts-martial and 4 months at the 37 special courts-martial. The contested share was 23% at general courts-martial and 15% at special courts-martial. The court level is not listed for 3 cases.

Punitive Discharges for Enlisted Members

Of 73 convicted enlisted members, 56 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, or 77%. The rate for all Article 81 cases was 79%, about the same.

Of those 56 punitive discharges, 13 were dishonorable discharges, the more severe type, which only a general court-martial can impose. A member whose sentence has no punitive discharge can still be separated administratively. These records do not include administrative separations.

Other Charges in These Cases

Besides conspiracy and the orders violation, drug offenses (Article 112a) were charged in 22 cases. Obstruction (Article 131b, numbered since 2019) was charged in 20 cases, larceny (Article 121) in 17, and the general article (Article 134) in 12.

Because of these other charges, the sentence figures cover more than conspiracy and orders violations. A case that also includes drug or obstruction charges is sentenced on all of its findings together.

Rank and Court Level

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 67% of the accused, and NCOs made up 33%. There were no officers. In all Article 81 cases, junior enlisted members made up 74%, so this group is slightly more senior.

General courts-martial and special courts-martial each heard 37 cases. The general court-martial share, 48%, was the same as the 48% for all Article 81 cases.

Cases by Year and Installation

The 77 cases were tried from January 2013 to April 2026. Each year through 2016 had 1 or 2 cases. There were 9 cases in 2017 and 8 in 2018. The highest count was 18 in 2021, followed by 11 in 2022 and 4 in 2023. The 2026 count of 4 covers only part of the year.

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 19 of these cases. Camp Pendleton, California, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, and Bremerton, Washington had 6 each, and Norfolk, Virginia had 4. These five installations account for 53% of the total. A large installation tries more cases of every type, so a high count does not by itself show anything about the base.

Rule Changes and Gaps in the Records

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It set fixed panel sizes, added judge-alone special courts-martial capped at 6 months with no punitive discharge, and brought in written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute certain serious offenses, and new rules govern who sets the sentence. Those rules depend on offense dates, and the records list only trial dates.

The records also do not include the evidence, the terms of any plea agreement, or anything resolved through nonjudicial punishment or administrative action. They show outcomes at trial and little about how cases reached trial.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

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.