Assault Charges at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 2017–2018: Pleas, Verdicts, and Sentences

Trends › By Installation › Camp Lejeune, North Carolina › Article 128, 2017–2018

Based on 44 cases · 2017–2018 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Assault in 31% of Cases

Camp Lejeune held 140 courts-martial in 2017 and 2018, and 44 of them charged assault (31%). The records list 24 of these cases in 2017 and 20 in 2018, from January 2017 to December 2018.

The yearly counts were similar, so the share does not come from a single unusual year. These are trial dates. The records do not say when the alleged assault happened, so some cases may involve conduct from before 2017.

More Punitive Discharges

Among 43 convicted enlisted members, 33 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (77%). Across Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases in the same period, the share was 66%. Of the 33 punitive discharges, 12 were dishonorable. A dishonorable discharge is the more severe form, and only a general court-martial can impose it.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. Those separations do not appear in these records.

Median Confinement the Same, Fewer Sentences of 5 Years or More

43 of the 44 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 41 of those sentences included confinement (95%). The median confinement was 10 months, the same as in Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases overall. A quarter of the sentences were 1.2 years or longer.

The sentence lengths were spread differently. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year were 40% of convictions here, compared with 23% in the rest of the service. Only 3 convictions included 5 years or more (7%), compared with 16% across the service. Sentences longer than one year were 14 of 43 convictions (33%), compared with 37%. These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

An Even Split Between Court Levels

The cases were split evenly: 22 at general courts-martial and 22 at special courts-martial. General courts-martial made up 50%. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

95% of convictions at both levels included confinement. The difference was length: the median was 1.4 years at general courts-martial and 6 months at special courts-martial.

Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement. All sentences longer than one year, including the 3 of 5 years or more, came from general courts-martial. At special courts-martial, the median of 6 months was well under the one-year cap.

Charges That Came With the Assault

13 of the 44 cases charged Article 128 alone, compared with 97 of 343 Article 128 cases across the Navy and Marine Corps. The most common companion charge was Article 120 (sexual assault), in 9 cases. Article 120b (child sexual abuse), Article 80 (attempt), and Article 107 (false official statement) appeared in 6 each. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 5.

When an assault count is charged with sexual assault or domestic violence, it can describe part of the same incident. The sentence then covers the whole case, not the assault alone.

A Junior Group of Accused

35 of the accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 8 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and none were officers or warrant officers. That mix is more junior than the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole, where 65% were junior enlisted. With no officers in the group, every discharge figure on this page refers to enlisted members.

The Rules That Applied

These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law brought fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and written plea agreements. None of those changes applied to the cases here.

Assault is not itself a covered offense under the later special trial counsel system. Special trial counsel can take an assault related to a covered offense, such as one tied to a domestic violence allegation.

Limits of the Record

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. This group has no plea or verdict breakdown, so it cannot show how many cases were contested or how contested trials ended. The records also do not cover the evidence, plea terms, or assaults handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 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.