Larceny Cases at Camp Pendleton, California: 2017–2018 vs. 2019–2023

Trends › By Installation › Camp Pendleton, California › Article 121

Based on 21 cases · 2019–2023 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Punitive Discharges: Lower Than Before, Higher Than the Service

For an enlisted member, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. In 2017–2018, 92% of enlisted members convicted in larceny cases here received one. In 2019–2023, 13 of 20 did (65%), and 0 of those were dishonorable. A bad-conduct discharge can come from either a general or a special court-martial. A dishonorable discharge requires a general court-martial.

Camp Pendleton's later rate was still higher than the 61% across the Navy and Marine Corps for larceny cases. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, and these records do not cover those separations.

Almost Every Recorded Plea Was Guilty

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Only 17 of the 21 records list a plea. Of those, 16 were guilty pleas and 1 was contested. The contested share was 6%, compared with 22% in Navy and Marine Corps-wide Article 121 cases.

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so the share rests only on the records that include one. The 2017–2018 records give no contested share.

Most Confinement Was Under a Year

Of 20 convictions, 17 included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of terms were 9 months or longer.

3 of the 20 convictions (15%) carried more than one year, compared with 15% elsewhere in the Navy and Marine Corps. No conviction carried 5 years or more. Terms under 6 months and terms of 6 months to 1 year each made up 35% of convictions here, compared with 32% each in Navy and Marine Corps Article 121 cases overall. 15% of convictions carried no confinement, compared with 20% service-wide. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.

Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial

A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. Of the 21 cases, 4 were general and 17 were special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 19%, compared with 29% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps and 46% at Camp Pendleton in 2017–2018.

The median confinement was 1 year in the earlier period and 6 months in the later one. Both changes happened over the same years. The records cannot show why either measure changed.

Other Charges in the Same Cases

Article 121 was the only charge in 10 of the 21 cases. When other articles were charged, the most common were Article 134 (general article), Article 108 (military property), and Article 121a (fraudulent use of credit or debit cards), in 3 cases each. Article 86 (AWOL) and Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 2 each. A sentence covers every charge in a case, so the confinement and discharge figures include punishment for these other offenses as well as the larceny charge.

Rank of the Accused

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 80% of the accused. NCOs were 20%, and officers were 0%. Across Navy and Marine Corps Article 121 cases overall, junior enlisted members were 58% of the accused. This group is more junior than the service as a whole for this charge.

Cases by Year

In the later period, there were 4 cases in 2019, 0 in 2020, 8 in 2021, 4 in 2022, and 5 in 2023. The records list no larceny cases here for 2020 and do not explain why. That is about 5 a year. In 2017–2018, the 2 years with cases on record, the records hold 13 cases, about 6 a year, counting full years only. Larceny cases were 7% of the 291 courts-martial at Camp Pendleton in 2019–2023.

Convictions with confinement were 92% in 2017–2018 and 85% in the later period. These groups are small, and a few cases can change the figures. The changes show a direction, not a precise size.

What the Records Do Not Show

The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation do not appear, so these figures cover only larceny cases that reached a courtroom.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 121 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Theft and Fraud by Dollar Loss: Federal Sentences vs. Article 121 Courts-Martial

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.