20 Drug Courts-Martial at Jacksonville, Florida, 2013–2018: What the Records Show

Trends › By Installation › Jacksonville, Florida › Article 112a, 2013–2018

Based on 20 cases · 2013–2018 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Convictions Included a Punitive Discharge

This page covers courts-martial charging Article 112a, the article on wrongful use and possession of controlled substances, at Jacksonville from February 2013 to October 2018. The main difference from the rest of the service is how often a conviction included a punitive discharge.

Of the 20 enlisted members convicted, 17 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, and 1 of those was dishonorable. That rate, 85%, is higher than the 73% in all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases over the same years. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not capture.

Almost Every Accused Pleaded Guilty

Of the 20 accused, 19 pleaded guilty and 1 contested at least one charge, meaning a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 5%, lower than the 11% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases in 2013–2018.

Every case ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Because only 1 case was contested, the results here are almost all sentences after guilty pleas, not verdicts reached at trial.

Confinement in Every Case

All 20 convictions included confinement. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, 4% of Article 112a convictions included no confinement. At Jacksonville, none did.

The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the service-wide median for Article 112a cases. A quarter of the terms were 9 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

Sentence Lengths Compared With the Service

50% of the Jacksonville convictions were under 6 months, the same share as across the service. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year were more common here: 40% compared with 29%.

Sentences longer than one year were less common: 2 of 20 convictions (10%), compared with 17% across Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases. No Jacksonville sentence was 5 years or more, compared with 3% across the service. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.

Other Charges in the Same Cases

In 16 of the 20 cases, at least one other article was charged alongside Article 112a. Article 86 (unauthorized absence) was the most common other charge, in 7 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 5 cases. Article 128 (assault) and Article 121 (larceny) were each charged in 3.

Because a sentence covers every charge in a case, the confinement and discharge figures reflect all of the charges, not the drug offense alone.

Mostly Special Courts-Martial

General courts-martial made up 10% of these cases (2 of 20). The rest were special courts-martial. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, while a special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge.

By rank, the accused were 15 junior enlisted members, 5 NCOs, and 0 officers. That group is more senior than Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases as a whole.

How Many Cases Each Year?

The yearly count was 6 in 2013, 3 in 2014, 4 in 2015, 0 in 2016, 2 in 2017, and 5 in 2018. Drug cases made up 26% of the 78 courts-martial at Jacksonville in 2013–2018.

With counts this small, a few cases can change a percentage by a large amount. The comparisons on this page show direction, not precise rates.

The Rules That Applied

All of these trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and brought in written plea agreements. None of those features applied to the cases here.

Missing From the Records

The records give trial dates, not offense dates, and they do not name the substance, describe the evidence, or show plea terms. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so plea counts use only records that list it. Drug cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation do not appear.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 112a on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Federal Law Has No Crime of Drug Use: How Article 112a Cases Compare · Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025

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.