Guilty Plea Rates: Federal Court vs. Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
Marine Corps courts-martial had the highest guilty plea rate of the services in this data: 1,373 of 1,663 cases with a recorded plea (83%) from 2016 to 2025. The rate was 97% to 100% from 2017 to 2020 and 61% in 2025. Federal court recorded 97% guilty pleas among people sentenced in fiscal years 201
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Guilty Pleas in Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial, Year by Ye › Guilty Pleas: Marine Corps
In brief: Marine Corps courts-martial had the highest guilty plea rate of the services in this data: 1,373 of 1,663 cases with a recorded plea (83%) from 2016 to 2025. The rate was 97% to 100% from 2017 to 2020 and 61% in 2025. Federal court recorded 97% guilty pleas among people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, compared with court-martial results from this site's Military Trial Results data (updated November 2, 2026). It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
How High Was the Marine Corps Guilty Plea Rate?
The Marine Corps data has 1,663 courts-martial with a trial date from 2016 to 2025 and a plea on record. Guilty pleas were 1,373 (83%), mixed pleas were 116 (7%), and not-guilty pleas were 174 (10%).
Another 368 Marine Corps cases have no plea recorded. They are not part of these percentages. That is a larger number of missing plea records than the Army or Navy data has.
What Changed After 2020?
The table below shows a sharp break in the series. From 2017 to 2020 the Marine Corps figures were 186 of 187 (more than 99%), 177 of 182 (97%), 162 of 162 (100%), and 180 of 186 (97%).
In 2021 the figure was 75% (166 of 222). The share was 73% in 2022, 75% in 2023, 70% in 2024, and 61% in 2025 (116 of 191).
The records show that the change happened, but they do not show why. They also do not show whether the 2016 to 2020 records were kept the same way as the later ones.
| Year | Marine Corps: guilty pleas | Federal sentenced: pleaded guilty | Federal cases ended: pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 of 6 (4 of 6) | 97% | 89% |
| 2017 | 186 of 187 (more than 99%) | 97% | 90% |
| 2018 | 177 of 182 (97%) | 97% | 90% |
| 2019 | 162 of 162 (100%) | 98% | 90% |
| 2020 | 180 of 186 (97%) | 98% | 91% |
| 2021 | 166 of 222 (75%) | 98% | 90% |
| 2022 | 119 of 164 (73%) | 97% | 89% |
| 2023 | 117 of 155 (75%) | 97% | 89% |
| 2024 | 146 of 208 (70%) | 97% | 91% |
| 2025 | 116 of 191 (61%) | 98% | 92% |
Is the 2016 Row Usable?
The 2016 row lists 4 guilty pleas out of 6 cases. With so few cases, that row does not support any rate. It is included in the combined total for all years, but it adds very little to that total. The 2017 row, with 187 cases, is the first year with a usable count.
How Often Were Marine Corps Guilty Pleas Under a Plea Agreement?
The record shows whether there was a plea agreement for 1,246 Marine Corps guilty pleas. Of these, 1,173 (94%) had an agreement.
Federal figures show a lower share. Among people sentenced in federal court who pleaded guilty, 74% had a written plea agreement.
How Does Federal Court Compare?
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 659,036 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of these, 642,522 (97%) pleaded guilty. That count leaves out acquittals and dismissals.
The Federal Judicial Center counted 753,808 defendants whose cases ended, and 678,652 (90%) pleaded guilty. A further 58,307 (8%) had their cases dismissed, and 16,849 (2%) went to trial.
In 2017 through 2020 the Marine Corps rate was about the same as the federal rate for sentenced people. From 2021 on it was lower than the federal rate.
What the Records Cannot Show
A guilty plea rate does not show how serious the charges were or what sentence followed. It also does not show how many accused members were offered a plea agreement and declined.
The comparison covers recorded pleas only. Court-martial years are calendar years, and federal years are fiscal years. This post is not legal advice.
How We Counted
Marine Corps: courts-martial with a trial date in 2016 to 2025 and a plea recorded (1,663). Federal: 659,036 people sentenced (U.S. Sentencing Commission) and 753,808 defendants whose cases ended (Federal Judicial Center), fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
Who is in each set of numbers. The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.
Plea agreements work differently. In federal court, most plea agreements do not bind the judge on the sentence. Since 2019, a military plea agreement can set a minimum and maximum sentence that the military judge must follow if the judge accepts the agreement. The federal numbers count anyone who pleaded guilty, with or without a written agreement.
How "plea" and "trial" are counted. In the federal sentencing numbers, "trial" means the person was convicted after a trial, including people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others. People acquitted at trial are not in these numbers at all (see "Who is in each set of numbers"). In the federal case data, the trial rate counts both convictions and acquittals at trial among all defendants whose cases ended, including dismissed cases. Military numbers count contested cases that reached a verdict. These denominators are not the same, and each post states the one it uses.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Guilty Pleas in Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial, Year by Year (overview)
- Guilty Plea Rates: Federal Court vs. Army Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Guilty Plea Rates: Federal Court vs. Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Guilty Plea Rates: Federal Court vs. Navy Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
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.