> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Handled Drug Cases (Article 112a), 2017–2018 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/camp-lejeune-north-carolina-article-112a-2017-2018/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:51:10.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:47:41.000Z - Description: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 40 courts-martial charging Article 112a (drug offenses) in 2017 and 2018. 38 of the 40 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (95%), compared with 74% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Every conviction included confinement. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Article 112a, Navy-Marine Corps [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) › [Camp Lejeune, North Carolina](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-camp-lejeune-north-carolina/) › Article 112a, 2017–2018 **Short answer:** Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 40 courts-martial charging Article 112a (drug offenses) in 2017 and 2018\. 38 of the 40 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (95%), compared with 74% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Every conviction included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as across the service. More sentences were longer than one year: 25% here, compared with 19%. Based on 40 cases · 2017–2018 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Punitive Discharges in 95% of Convictions A punitive discharge for an enlisted member is either a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. Either court level can impose a bad-conduct discharge. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge. At Camp Lejeune, 38 of 40 convicted enlisted members received one (95%). The share for Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases overall was 74%. Of the 38 discharges, 7 were dishonorable. The 2 members without a punitive discharge could still have faced an administrative separation, which these records do not show. ## Confinement for Every Conviction All 40 cases ended in a conviction, and all 40 sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6 months for Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases overall. A quarter of the sentences were 1.1 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, as imposed at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, so the figures include companion charges as well as the drug count. ## More Sentences Longer Than One Year Sentences under 6 months were 42% here and 44% across the service. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year were 32% in both. The difference was in sentences longer than one year: 10 of 40 convictions (25%), compared with 19% across the service. No conviction here had no confinement, compared with 4% across the service. None was 5 years or more, compared with 4%. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement; a special court-martial is capped at one year. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases overall | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 0 | 0% | 4% | | Under 6 months | 17 | 42% | 44% | | 6 months to 1 year | 13 | 32% | 32% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 10 | 25% | 16% | | 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 4% | ## Court Level and Sentence Length General courts-martial heard 12 of the 40 cases (30%), slightly more than the 26% across the Navy and Marine Corps in 2017–2018\. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge. Sentences differed by court level. The median confinement at the 12 general courts-martial was 1.6 years. The median at the 28 special courts-martial was 5 months. Most cases were special courts-martial, with sentences of less than a year. A smaller group were general courts-martial, with longer sentences. The overall median of 6 months is between the medians for the 2 groups. ## A Junior Group Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 90% of the accused. NCOs (E-5 to E-9) made up 10%, and officers made up 0%. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases in 2017–2018, junior enlisted members were 80%. The Camp Lejeune group was more junior. No officers appear, so every discharge figure on this page concerns enlisted members only. ## Drug Charges and Their Companions 22 of the 40 cases charged at least one other article. The most common was Article 92 (orders violation), in 9 cases. Article 86 (AWOL), Article 81 (conspiracy), and Article 134 (general article) each appeared in 4\. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 2. The other cases charged drug offenses only. Each sentence covers every charge, so the companion offenses are part of the confinement and discharge figures. ## Cases by Year The data covers January 2017 through December 2018, with 19 cases in 2017 and 21 in 2018\. Drug charges were part of 29% of the 140 courts-martial at Camp Lejeune in those years. The records list trial dates, not the dates of the alleged drug use, so a case tried early in 2017 may involve conduct from the year before. The counts for 2017 and 2018 were about the same. ## The Law at the Time These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. That law 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 stayed under the earlier rules. ## What Is Missing Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. This group has no usable plea or verdict breakdown, so it cannot show how many cases were contested. The records also leave out the evidence, the plea terms, and drug cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 112a on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Courts-martial tried at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 2017–2018 that charged Article 112a (40 cases), compared with every Navy and Marine Corps case charging Article 112a in those years. 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 - [Camp Lejeune, North Carolina: Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-camp-lejeune-north-carolina/) (hub) - [Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) (hub) - [Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 283 Cases Show](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/camp-lejeune-north-carolina-courts-martial-2019-2023/) - [Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 2017–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 140 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/camp-lejeune-north-carolina-courts-martial-2017-2018/) - [What Was Tried at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 2024–2026? 119 Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/camp-lejeune-north-carolina-courts-martial-2024-2026/) - [Drug Cases at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina: 2017–2018 vs. 2019–2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/camp-lejeune-north-carolina-article-112a-before-after-2019/) - [Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-112a-trend-2017-2025/) - [S3 E52: What You Need to Know About Positive UAs in the Military](https://www.bodiesburied.com/s3e52-what-you-need-to-know-about-positive-uas-in-the-military/) (podcast, members) - [Article 112a explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) **Compare: federal court.** [Federal Law Has No Crime of Drug Use: How Article 112a Cases Compare](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-no-crime-of-drug-use-article-112a/) · [Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-importation-vs-article-112a/) **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.