False Official Statement Charges at Camp Pendleton, California, 2019–2023: Pleas, Verdicts, and Sentences

Trends › By Installation › Camp Pendleton, California › Article 107, 2019–2023

Based on 16 cases · 2019–2023 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

No Case Charged Article 107 by Itself

0 of the 16 cases charged Article 107 as the only offense. Across Navy and Marine Corps Article 107 cases in 2019–2023, 15 of 156 did. Article 112a (drug) was the most common other charge here, in 4 cases.

Article 131b (obstruction), Article 134 (general article), Article 128 (assault), and Article 92 (orders violation) each appeared in 3 cases. Every sentence in this post covers all of the charges in its case, so these offenses are part of the confinement and discharge figures.

Shorter Median Confinement, With Some Long Terms

All 16 cases ended in a conviction, and 11 of the sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, shorter than the 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 107 cases in the same years.

The longer terms were well above the median. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1.8 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Punitive Discharges Were Less Common Than Across the Service

60% of enlisted convictions included a punitive discharge: 6 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges. The share across Navy and Marine Corps Article 107 cases was 67%.

1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears in these cases, and that officer was dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Who Was Charged?

12 of the accused were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 3 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. Across Navy and Marine Corps Article 107 cases, 61% of the accused were junior enlisted, so this group was more junior.

Court Level

7 of the 16 cases were general courts-martial (44%). The rest were special courts-martial. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge.

Cases by Year

The trials ran from February 2019 through November 2023. By year: 3 in 2019, 4 in 2020, 7 in 2021, 0 in 2022, and 2 in 2023. The 16 cases were 5% of the 291 courts-martial at Camp Pendleton, California in 2019–2023.

Limits of These Records

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, and this post does not report a contested share. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 107 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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.