Did Drug Cases at Bremerton, Washington Change After 2019?
Bremerton, Washington tried 55 courts-martial charging Article 112a (drug offenses) in 2019–2023, 36% of all its cases in those years. Sentences there were shorter than in other Navy and Marine Corps drug cases.
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Trends › By Installation › Bremerton, Washington › Article 112a
Short answer: Bremerton, Washington tried 55 courts-martial charging Article 112a (drug offenses) in 2019–2023, 36% of all its cases in those years. Sentences there were shorter than in other Navy and Marine Corps drug cases. The median confinement was 3 months, compared with 5 months, and 43% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 64%.
Shorter Sentences in Drug Cases
Of 52 convictions in 2019–2023, 79% included confinement. The median confinement was 3 months, compared with 5 months in all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases. A quarter of the terms were 7 months or longer.
No confinement was part of 21% of convictions here, compared with 11% service-wide. Terms of more than 1 year followed only 3 of 52 convictions (6%), compared with 16%. Terms under 6 months made up 52% of convictions, compared with 45%. Terms from 6 months to 1 year made up 21%, compared with 27%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, not only the drug charge.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 11 | 21% | 11% |
| Under 6 months | 27 | 52% | 45% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 21% | 27% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 2 | 4% | 15% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 2% | 1% |
Fewer Punitive Discharges
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. For an officer, the equivalent is a dismissal. Of 49 convicted enlisted members, 21 received a punitive discharge (43%), compared with 64% in other Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases. Only 2 of the 21 were dishonorable discharges.
The records list 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, and none was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not include administrative separations.
2013–2018 Compared With 2019–2023
In 2013–2018, Bremerton tried 71 drug cases over 6 years, about 12 a year. Since 2019, it has tried about 11 a year. The yearly counts varied: 24 in 2019, 15 in 2020, 3 in 2021, 3 in 2022, and 10 in 2023.
The median confinement was 4 months in the earlier period and 3 months in the later one. Convictions with confinement were 96% and then 79%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members were 56% and then 43%. The contested share was 3% and then 13%. General courts-martial were 13% of cases and then 16%. These groups are small, and a few cases can change a percentage. So these figures show a direction, not a precise change.
| 2013–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 71 | 55 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 3% | 13% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 0 of 2 | 2 of 7 |
| Convictions with confinement | 96% | 79% |
| Median confinement | 4 months | 3 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 56% | 43% |
| General courts-martial | 13% | 16% |
Most of the Accused Pleaded Guilty
Of 53 records that list a plea, 46 show a guilty plea and 7 show a not-guilty or mixed plea. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share here, 13%, is lower than the 20% for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases in the same years.
Of the 7 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal. In 2013–2018, 0 of 2 did. The records do not show plea terms, so they cannot show whether a plea agreement limited any sentence.
Drug Charges Were Usually the Only Charge
In 35 of the 55 cases, Article 112a was the only article charged. In the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps, 200 of 460 Article 112a cases charged it alone.
When other articles were charged, the most common was Article 81 (conspiracy), in 8 cases. Article 86 (AWOL) was charged in 7, Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019) in 4, and Article 80 (attempt) in 2. Article 120b (child sexual abuse) was charged in 1 case. Each sentence covers every charge in its case. So a term in a case with other charges does not measure the drug charge alone.
Mostly Special Courts-Martial
Special courts-martial heard most of these cases. General courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, heard 16% (9 of 55). A special court-martial caps confinement at 1 year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge.
Only a general court-martial can impose more than 1 year of confinement, and terms that long were uncommon in this group.
Who Was Charged
The accused were 37 junior enlisted members, 14 NCOs, and 3 officers. This group is more senior than in other Navy and Marine Corps drug cases.
Drug cases were a large share of all Bremerton cases in these years. The 55 Article 112a cases were 36% of the 153 courts-martial there in 2019–2023.
What These Records Do Not Include
The records cover courts-martial only. Drug cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, and they do not include the evidence or the plea terms. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often leave out the plea.
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
Courts-martial tried at Bremerton, Washington that charged Article 112a (found guilty, not guilty, or both): 2013–2018 (71) and 2019–2023 (55). Comparisons use every Navy and Marine Corps case charging Article 112a in 2019–2023.
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
- Bremerton, Washington: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Bremerton, Washington, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 221 Cases (the whole docket)
- Bremerton, Washington, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 153 Cases (the whole docket)
- Bremerton, Washington Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 52 Cases Show (the whole docket)
- Drug Cases at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina: 2017–2018 vs. 2019–2023 (same offense, another installation)
- Article 112a at Camp Pendleton, California Before and After 2019 (same offense, another installation)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025
- S3 E52: What You Need to Know About Positive UAs in the Military (podcast, members)
- Article 112a explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Article 112a Cases at Bremerton, Washington, 2019–2023
Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the Court-Martial Characters membership.
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.