Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 27 Cases
Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota tried 27 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023. Drug charges under Article 112a were in 57% of cases with listed charges, compared with 41% in the rest of the Air Force. The median confinement was 3 months.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota › 2019–2023
Short answer: Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota tried 27 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023. Drug charges under Article 112a were in 57% of cases with listed charges, compared with 41% in the rest of the Air Force. The median confinement was 3 months. 45% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 56% across the Air Force.
More Junior Accused and Fewer General Courts-Martial
The accused were 20 junior enlisted members, 6 NCOs, and 1 officer. This group was more junior than Air Force cases overall in those years.
Fewer cases were tried at the higher court level. General courts-martial made up 30% of cases (8 of 27), compared with 53% across the Air Force. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Which Charges Were Brought?
The charge lists cover 21 of the 27 cases. Article 112a, covering wrongful use and possession of controlled substances, was charged in 12 of them. That 57% share compares with 41% across the Air Force.
Most other articles were charged in only 1 to 3 cases. Article 134, the general article, was charged in 14%, compared with 21% elsewhere. Article 113 (misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019 and drunken or reckless driving since) and Article 120b, child sexual abuse, were each charged in 10%. 1 case charged Article 118, murder. One case can include several articles, so these shares overlap.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 12 | 57% | 41% |
| Art. 134 General article | 3 | 14% | 21% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 10% | 16% |
| Art. 113 Misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019, drunken or reckless driving since | 2 | 10% | 4% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 10% | 7% |
| Art. 118 Murder | 1 | 5% | 0% |
| Art. 111 Drunken or reckless driving before 2019, leaving the scene of an accident since | 1 | 5% | 1% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 1 | 5% | 6% |
Short Sentences, Mostly Under 6 Months
Of 21 convictions, 20 included confinement. The median confinement was 3 months, about the same as the 4 months across Air Force cases in those years. A quarter of the sentences were 9 months or longer.
Sentences under 6 months made up 71% of convictions, compared with 50% across the Air Force. Terms of more than one year were part of 4 of 21 convictions (19%), compared with 23%. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement limit, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Air Force-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 1 | 5% | 12% |
| Under 6 months | 15 | 71% | 50% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 1 | 5% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 2 | 10% | 17% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 10% | 6% |
Discharges and a Dismissal
45% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge: 6 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges. Across the Air Force, the share was 56%.
The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer in these records was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Acquittals and Pleas
6 of the 27 cases ended in a full acquittal (22%), about the same as the 24% across the Air Force. This rate uses all cases as the base, because Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list the plea when the accused pleaded guilty.
Only 13 of the 27 records list a plea. Of those, 5 were contested, meaning a not-guilty or mixed plea, and 8 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 38%, compared with 50% in the rest of the Air Force. Many pleas are missing, so this comparison is approximate.
Who Heard the Cases?
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. At Ellsworth, a judge alone heard 18 cases, an officer panel heard 6, and an enlisted panel heard 3. Members heard 33% of cases, compared with 38% across the Air Force.
Earlier Years at Ellsworth
In 2016–2018, Ellsworth had 15 cases, about 5 a year. It also had about 5 a year in 2019–2023, counting full years only. The median confinement went from 4 months to 3 months. Convictions with confinement rose from 75% to 95%.
Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 42% to 45%. The general court-martial share went from 33% to 30%. In groups this small a few cases can change these figures, so they show direction, not precise change.
| 2016–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 15 | 27 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 38% |
| Convictions with confinement | 75% | 95% |
| Median confinement | 4 months | 3 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 42% | 45% |
| General courts-martial | 33% | 30% |
Compared With Beale and Holloman
Beale AFB, California and Holloman AFB, New Mexico each tried 28 Air Force cases in the same years. Both had the same median confinement as Ellsworth, 3 months.
The punitive discharge rate for enlisted members was 55% at Beale and 43% at Holloman, compared with 45% here.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota | 27 | 38% | 4 of 5 | 3 months | 45% |
| Beale AFB, California | 28 | 5 of 9 | 3 of 5 | 3 months | 55% |
| Holloman AFB, New Mexico | 28 | 36% | 5 of 8 | 3 months | 43% |
When the Cases Were Tried
The cases were tried from January 2019 to August 2023: 13 in 2019, 5 in 2020, 5 in 2021, 3 in 2022, and 1 in 2023. They are 2% of the 1,361 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
What These Records Leave Out
Trial records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative action. Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals and never report plea agreements. The dates given are trial dates, not offense dates.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota with a trial date in 2019–2023 (27 cases), compared with all 1,361 Air Force trials in those years. Dates are trial dates.
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
- Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 15 Cases (another period)
- What Was Tried at Beale AFB, California, 2019–2023? 28 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Holloman AFB, New Mexico, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 28 Cases (same years, similar size)
- Andersen AFB, Guam Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 13 Cases Show
- Aviano AB, Italy Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 16 Cases Show
- Aviano AB, Italy, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 17 Cases
- Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 27 Cases
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, 2019–2023
- Jefferson B. Brown
- Steven J. Grocki
- Elizabeth M. Hernandez
- Christopher D. James
- Christina M. Jimenez
- Shad R. Kidd
- Richard D. Mink
- Bradley A. Morris
- Bradley J. Palmer
- Sterling C. Pendleton
- Jennifer J. Raab
- Mark F. Rosenow
- Thomas A. Smith
- Charles G. Warren
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.