What Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Tried in 2019
The median confinement at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 2019 was 1 year, compared with 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. The base tried 62 courts-martial that year. Article 121 (larceny) was charged in 26% of them, compared with 11% service-wide.
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Trends › By Installation › Camp Lejeune, North Carolina › 2019
Short answer: The median confinement at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 2019 was 1 year, compared with 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. The base tried 62 courts-martial that year. Article 121 (larceny) was charged in 26% of them, compared with 11% service-wide.
A Median Confinement of 1 Year
Confinement was part of 91% of the 56 convictions recorded in 2019. The median confinement was 1 year. A quarter of the terms were 1.7 years or longer. For all Navy and Marine Corps cases, the median was 6 months.
These figures are adjudged sentences, meaning the sentences announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case, not a single offense.
More Sentences Longer Than One Year
Confinement longer than one year came in 21 of 56 convictions (38%), compared with 24% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Terms of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 32% of convictions here, compared with 19%. 3 convictions carried 5 years or more.
Shorter sentences were less common. 15 convictions (27%) carried less than 6 months, compared with 35% service-wide. Only 5 (9%) carried no confinement, compared with 18%. More than one year of confinement is available only at a general court-martial. A special court-martial is capped at one year.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 9% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 15 | 27% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 15 | 27% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 18 | 32% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 5% | 5% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
Camp Lejeune held 27 general and 35 special courts-martial in 2019. The general court-martial share was 44%, about the same as the 43% for the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge.
The median confinement was 1.5 years at general courts-martial and 5 months at special courts-martial.
Orders Violations, Larceny, and Conspiracy
61 of the 62 records list charges, and each article counts once per case. Article 112a (drug) was the most common charge, at 31%, about the same as the 30% service-wide. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was next, at 28%, compared with 17%.
Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 26% of cases, compared with 11%. Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 20%, compared with 7%. Article 131b (obstructing justice) appeared in 15%, compared with 7%, and Article 80 (attempts) in 15%, compared with 10%. Article 128 (assault) appeared less often than the service rate, in 21% compared with 34%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 19 | 31% | 30% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 17 | 28% | 17% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 16 | 26% | 11% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 13 | 21% | 34% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 12 | 20% | 7% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 9 | 15% | 10% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 9 | 15% | 7% |
| Art. 134 General article | 8 | 13% | 12% |
Drug Charges Had the Lowest Conviction Rate
Of 19 cases charging Article 112a, 16 ended in a conviction on that article (84%). That was the lowest rate among the top charges. Article 92 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 16 of 17 (94%). Every case charging Article 121 or Article 128 ended in a conviction on that article: 16 of 16 and 13 of 13.
The median confinement was 10 months when the conviction included Article 112a or Article 121, 8 months with Article 92, and 6 months with Article 128. A case can end in a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so these rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 19 | 16 (84%) | 10 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 17 | 16 (94%) | 8 months |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 16 | 16 (100%) | 10 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 13 | 13 (100%) | 6 months |
Punitive Discharges
Of 55 convicted enlisted members, 45 received a punitive discharge: 36 bad-conduct and 9 dishonorable. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the enlisted rate was 60%. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer in the records was dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. The records do not show administrative separations.
Rank of the Accused and Missing Pleas
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 68% of the accused, compared with 57% across the Navy and Marine Corps. NCOs were 30%, and officers were 2%.
Only 2 of the 2019 records list a plea, and 0 of 2 were contested. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. These numbers therefore cannot show how often cases at Camp Lejeune were contested.
Compared with 2018 and Similar Installations
Camp Lejeune tried 73 cases in 2018 and 62 in 2019. The 2019 trials took place from February through December. The median confinement was 7 months in 2018 and 1 year in 2019. Enlisted punitive discharges were 87% and then 82%. Each period is a single year, and a few cases can change these numbers.
Norfolk, Virginia and San Diego, California each tried 51 cases in 2019. Their median confinement was 6 months and 7 months. Their enlisted punitive discharge rates were 55% and 71%.
| 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 73 | 62 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 0 of 1 | 0 of 2 |
| Convictions with confinement | 93% | 91% |
| Median confinement | 7 months | 1 year |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 87% | 82% |
| General courts-martial | 41% | 44% |
What the Records Do Not Show
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which cases were tried under the new rules. They also leave out the evidence, plea terms, and cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 62 | 0 of 2 | — | 1 year | 82% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 51 | 43% | 9 of 21 | 6 months | 55% |
| San Diego, California | 51 | 14% | 4 of 7 | 7 months | 71% |
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina with a trial date in 2019 (62 cases).
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
- Camp Lejeune, North Carolina: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina: 2018 (previous / next)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina: 2020 (previous / next)
- Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 283 Cases Show (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 2019
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.
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.