Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 2025: 37 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 37 courts-martial in 2025, and its sentences were closer to the service figures than in 2024. The median confinement was 1 year in 2024 and 4 months in 2025, the same as across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Camp Lejeune, North Carolina › 2025
Short answer: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 37 courts-martial in 2025, and its sentences were closer to the service figures than in 2024. The median confinement was 1 year in 2024 and 4 months in 2025, the same as across the Navy and Marine Corps. Enlisted punitive discharges were 70% in 2024 and 45% in 2025. Article 121 (larceny) was charged in 14% of cases, compared with 8% elsewhere.
Changes from 2024
Several measures were lower in 2025 than in 2024. The median confinement was 1 year and then 4 months. Convictions with confinement were 80% and then 71%. Enlisted convictions with a punitive discharge were 70% and then 45%. General courts-martial were 48% of cases and then 30%.
There were 44 cases in 2024 and 37 in 2025. These groups are small, and a few cases can change each figure. The changes show a direction, not a precise size.
| 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 44 | 37 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 21% | 29% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 9 | 2 of 10 |
| Convictions with confinement | 80% | 71% |
| Median confinement | 1 year | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 70% | 45% |
| General courts-martial | 48% | 30% |
How Much Confinement?
Of 34 convictions, 24 carried confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as the 4 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of terms were 7 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
Terms under 6 months made up 44% of convictions, compared with 37% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. 10 convictions (29%) carried no confinement, compared with 31%. Sentences longer than one year came in 5 of 34 convictions (15%), about the same as the 16% service-wide. 4 convictions (12%) carried 5 years or more, compared with 5%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 10 | 29% | 31% |
| Under 6 months | 15 | 44% | 37% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 12% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 1 | 3% | 11% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 12% | 5% |
Punitive Discharges Were About the Same as the Service Rate
45% of enlisted convictions included a punitive discharge: 11 bad-conduct and 4 dishonorable. That is about the same as the 46% for the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer in the records was not dismissed.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not show administrative separations.
Which Charges Were Most Common?
Charge lists cover 36 of the 37 cases, and each article counts once per case. Article 92 (orders violation) was the most common, at 28% compared with 24% service-wide. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 22%, compared with 16%. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 14% of cases, compared with 8%.
Several less common articles each appeared in 11% of cases, higher than their service-wide shares. They were Article 108 (loss or damage of military property), compared with 1%; Article 86 (AWOL), compared with 4%; Article 89 (disrespect toward or assault of a superior officer), compared with 2%; and Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child), compared with 4%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 10 | 28% | 24% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 8 | 22% | 16% |
| Art. 134 General article | 7 | 19% | 21% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 5 | 14% | 8% |
| Art. 108 Military property; loss, damage, destruction | 4 | 11% | 1% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 4 | 11% | 4% |
| Art. 89 Disrespect toward superior officer; assault of superior officer | 4 | 11% | 2% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 11% | 4% |
Convictions on Orders and Assault Charges
All 10 cases charging Article 92 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 4 months. All 8 cases charging Article 128 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median of 3 months. These rows can overlap, because one case may include both charges.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 10 | 10 (100%) | 4 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 8 | 8 (8 of 8) | 3 months |
Pleas and Acquittals
35 of 37 records list the plea: 25 guilty pleas and 10 contested cases with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share of 29% was lower than the 37% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
10 contested cases reached a verdict. 2 ended in a full acquittal (20%), and 2 ended in a partial acquittal (20%). A partial acquittal means not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. The full-acquittal rate in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps was 27%.
Court Level and Rank
General courts-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. They were 30% of cases (11 of 37). At that level, 70% of convictions carried confinement, with a median of 1.5 years. Special courts-martial are capped at one year. At the 26 special courts-martial, 71% of convictions carried confinement, with a median of 3 months.
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 69% of the accused, compared with 62% across the Navy and Marine Corps. NCOs were 29%, and officers were 3%.
Compared with San Diego and Norfolk
At San Diego, California (38 cases), 26% of cases were contested. The median confinement was 3 months, and 29% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge. At Norfolk, Virginia (31 cases), 23% were contested. The median was 1 year, and 46% received a punitive discharge.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 37 | 29% | 2 of 10 | 4 months | 45% |
| San Diego, California | 38 | 26% | 1 of 10 | 3 months | 29% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 31 | 23% | 0 of 7 | 1 year | 46% |
Law Changes and What the Records Do Not Show
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Military judges sentence under new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. These changes took effect in the same period as the changes described above. Both depend on offense dates, which the records do not have. The records cannot show whether either law change caused any change in the figures. They also do not show the evidence, plea terms, or nonjudicial punishment.
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 2025 (37 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)
- Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 2024: 44 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- What Was Tried at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 2024–2026? 119 Courts-Martial (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
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2021
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 2025
- Robert Boudreau
- Gable Hackman
- Ryan Lipton
- Benjamin Mills
- William Mossor
- Kyle Phillips
- Jesse Schweig
- Adam Workman
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.