What Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Tried in 2021
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 90 courts-martial in 2021. None of the 21 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (0 of 21), compared with 26% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Camp Lejeune, North Carolina › 2021
Short answer: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 90 courts-martial in 2021. None of the 21 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (0 of 21), compared with 26% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 40% of cases, compared with 21% service-wide.
No Full Acquittals in Contested Cases
A contested case is one in which the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. 21 contested cases at Camp Lejeune reached a verdict in 2021, and 0 ended in a full acquittal. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, 26% did.
Another 5 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal. That means the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. Contested cases were also more common across the Navy and Marine Corps, at 32% of cases with a plea on record.
Most Accused Pleaded Guilty
85 of the 90 records list the plea: 64 guilty pleas and 21 contested cases. The contested share was 25%, lower than the 32% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2021.
The guilty plea rate differed by charge. Cases charging Article 112a ended in a guilty plea 78% of the time (25 of 32), the highest among the top charges. Cases charging Article 92 ended in a guilty plea 56% of the time (19 of 34). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the case.
Article 92 Was the Most Common Charge
85 of the 90 cases list charges, and each article counts once per case. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 34 cases (40%), compared with 21% service-wide. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 32 cases (38%), compared with 25%.
Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry) appeared in 9%, compared with 4%. Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 14%, compared with 10%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was the same as the service rate, at 19%. Article 80 (attempts) was charged less often, at 6% compared with 13%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 34 | 40% | 21% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 32 | 38% | 25% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 25 | 29% | 32% |
| Art. 134 General article | 20 | 24% | 26% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 16 | 19% | 19% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 12 | 14% | 10% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 10 | 12% | 9% |
| Art. 129 Burglary; unlawful entry | 8 | 9% | 4% |
Convictions on the Top Charges
Every case charging one of the most common articles ended in a conviction on that article: Article 92 in 34 of 34 cases, Article 112a in 32 of 32, Article 128 in 25 of 25, and Article 134 in 20 of 20.
The median confinement for a conviction was 6 months for assault, 7 months for orders violations, 10 months for drug charges, and 1.7 years for the general article. The rows overlap because a single case can include several of these charges.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 34 | 34 (100%) | 7 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 32 | 32 (100%) | 10 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 25 | 25 (100%) | 6 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 20 | 20 (100%) | 1.7 years |
How Much Confinement?
85 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 74 of those included confinement (87%). The median confinement was 9 months, longer than the 7 months for the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole. A quarter of terms were 1.2 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
Confinement longer than one year came in 25 of 85 convictions (29%), compared with 26% service-wide. Terms of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 28% of convictions, compared with 21%. 11 convictions (13%) carried no confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 11 | 13% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 24 | 28% | 33% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 25 | 29% | 26% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 24 | 28% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 1% | 5% |
Punitive Discharges and Dismissals
Of 78 convicted enlisted members, 64 received a punitive discharge: 52 bad-conduct and 12 dishonorable. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the enlisted rate was 64%. The records list 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 2 were dismissed.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. The records do not include administrative separations.
Equal Numbers of General and Special Courts-Martial
Camp Lejeune held 45 general and 45 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 50%, compared with 48% across the Navy and Marine Corps. At general courts-martial, 93% of convictions carried confinement, with a median of 1.2 years. Special courts-martial are capped at one year. At that level, 82% of convictions carried confinement, with a median of 5 months.
By rank, the accused were 66 junior enlisted members, 12 NCOs, and 3 officers. That group is more junior than in all Navy and Marine Corps cases.
More Cases Than in 2020
There were 51 cases in 2020 and 90 in 2021. The median confinement was 8 months and then 9 months. Enlisted punitive discharges were 87% and then 82%. The general court-martial share was 43% and then 50%. Convictions with confinement were 100% and then 87%. These groups are small, and a few cases can change the figures.
Camp Pendleton, California tried 60 cases, and 16% were contested. 0 of 9 of its contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. Norfolk, Virginia tried 46 cases, and 29% were contested. 6 of 13 of its contested cases ended in a full acquittal. Both had an enlisted punitive discharge rate of 65%.
| 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 51 | 90 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 25% |
| Convictions with confinement | 100% | 87% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 9 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 87% | 82% |
| General courts-martial | 43% | 50% |
What the Records Do Not Show
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. They do not include cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 90 | 25% | 0 of 21 | 9 months | 82% |
| Camp Pendleton, California | 60 | 16% | 0 of 9 | 7 months | 65% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 46 | 29% | 6 of 13 | 5 months | 65% |
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 2021 (90 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: 2020 (previous / next)
- What Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Tried in 2022 (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, 2021
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.