When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Guilty to False Official Statement
Navy and Marine Corps records show 124 guilty-plea courts-martial from 2017–2025 that included Article 107 (false official statement). The median confinement was 6 months, the same as across all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas.
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Short answer: Navy and Marine Corps records show 124 guilty-plea courts-martial from 2017–2025 that included Article 107 (false official statement). The median confinement was 6 months, the same as across all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas. Of convicted enlisted members, 58% received a punitive discharge, about the same as the 60% for the wider group.
About the Same as Other Guilty Pleas
This post covers cases in which the accused pleaded guilty and the charges included Article 107. On most measures, these cases were similar to all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas.
Confinement was part of 81% of the 124 convictions. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6-month median across all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 1 year or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Most Cases Included Other Charges
In 112 of the 124 cases, at least one more article was charged. Drug offenses under Article 112a were the most common additional charge, in 32 cases. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 27, Article 92 (orders violation) in 22, Article 128 (assault) in 21, and Article 134 (the general article) in 18.
The sentences reported here cover those other charges too. The records do not show how much of a sentence related to the false statement.
Sentence Bands
No confinement was adjudged in 23 convictions (19%), compared with 15% across Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas. Sentences under 6 months were 38%, about the same as the 40% for the wider group. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year were 26%, compared with 24%.
Sentences longer than one year were 22 of 124 convictions (18%), a little lower than the 21% for all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas. Of those, 17 were between 1 and 5 years and 5 were 5 years or more.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 23 | 19% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 47 | 38% | 40% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 32 | 26% | 24% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 17 | 14% | 16% |
| 5 years or more | 5 | 4% | 5% |
Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial
General courts-martial, the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, handled 41 of the 124 cases (33%). Special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year, handled the other 83.
The median confinement was 1.4 years at general courts-martial and 4 months at special courts-martial. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.
Punitive Discharges
Of 116 convicted enlisted members, 67 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (58%). Of those, 13 were dishonorable discharges. The share across all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas was 60%, about the same.
The records list 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 2 were sentenced to dismissal, the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank of the Accused
The accused were 73 junior enlisted members, 43 NCOs, and 4 officers. That mix is more senior than all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years.
Cases by Year and Installation
Trials took place from January 2017 to October 2025. There were 16 in 2017, 19 in 2018, 9 in 2019, 14 in 2020, 24 in 2021, 13 in 2022, 6 in 2023, 8 in 2024, and 15 in 2025. The numbers did not move steadily in one direction.
Norfolk, Virginia had the most cases, 21. Next were San Diego, California (14), Bremerton, Washington (13), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (12), and Camp Pendleton, California (9). Those 5 installations had 56% of the 124 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with this offense.
Law Changes in These Years
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It introduced written plea agreements, fixed panel sizes, and judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge. Offenses from before 2019 stayed under the earlier rules.
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel 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 within new sentencing parameters. Both changes depend on offense dates, which the records do not give, so the data cannot show whether either one affected results.
What the Records Do Not Show
These are trial records only. They do not describe the statement or why it was false, the evidence, or any plea terms. False statements handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included.
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.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2017–2025: where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 107 (false official statement) (124 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years.
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
- Article 107 (False Official Statements): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Sentences (hub)
- How Has Article 107 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?
- Article 107 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2017–2025
- Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps False Official Statement Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
- Guilty Pleas in Army False Official Statement Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (another service)
- When Air Force Accused Plead Guilty to False Official Statement (another service)
- Article 107 explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.