How Navy-Marine Corps False Official Statement Cases Ended in 2024

Trends › By Offense › Article 107 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2024

Based on 18 cases · 2024 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Contested Cases Ended in Conviction

A plea is recorded for all 18 cases: 10 not-guilty or mixed pleas and 8 guilty pleas. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share, 56%, was higher than the 34% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024.

All 10 contested cases ended with a guilty finding on at least one charge. In 4 of them (40%), the result was a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another.

Confinement Was Part of 8 Sentences

All 18 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Only 8 of those sentences included confinement (44%).

The median confinement was 6 months, close to the 5 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 11 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.

Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges

Of 17 convicted enlisted members, 8 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (47%). That was less often than the 58% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024. Only 1 of the 8 was a dishonorable discharge.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not cover.

Most Cases Went to a Special Court-Martial

General courts-martial heard only 2 of the 18 cases (11%). Special courts-martial heard the rest. A general court-martial is the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year.

NCOs Were the Larger Group

NCOs made up 65% of the accused and junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 35%. No officers appear. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024, junior enlisted members were 58% of the accused, so this group was more senior.

Other Articles in the Same Cases

Article 107 was charged by itself in 3 of the 18 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) and Article 121 (larceny) each appeared in 4 cases. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 3, and Article 128 (assault) and Article 131b (obstruction) in 2 each.

New Rules From December 2023

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence under new sentencing parameters.

Both rules depend on the offense date. The records give only trial dates, so the 2024 trials here, held from March 2024 to December 2024, include cases under the old rules and cases under the new rules.

What the Records Do Not Show

The data covers cases that reached a courtroom. False statements resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence or any plea terms.

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.