> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Drug Charge: How Contested Cases Ended - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-112a-acq-2017-2025/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:05:43.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:47:04.000Z - Description: Of 110 contested Navy and Marine Corps drug cases under Article 112a tried in 2017–2025, 42 ended in a full acquittal (38%). That was higher than the 31% across all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 112a, Navy-Marine Corps [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 112a](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-courts-martial/) › Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Drug Charge **Short answer:** Of 110 contested Navy and Marine Corps drug cases under Article 112a tried in 2017–2025, 42 ended in a full acquittal (38%). That was higher than the 31% across all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases. Among convicted enlisted members, 60% received a punitive discharge, compared with 50% in the comparison group. Based on 110 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Full Acquittals Were More Common in Drug Cases A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The Navy and Marine Corps records hold 110 contested cases involving Article 112a, the drug offense article, between February 2017 and November 2025\. None of them involved a guilty plea. Of those 110, 42 ended in a full acquittal (not guilty of every charge). That 38% full-acquittal rate was higher than the 31% for all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in the same years. Another 22 ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but convicted of another. ## Most Convictions Included a Punitive Discharge Among convicted enlisted members, 60% received a punitive discharge. That was higher than the 50% across contested Navy and Marine Corps cases. Of those discharges, 29 were bad-conduct discharges and 8 were dishonorable discharges. For an enlisted member, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation, which court-martial records do not show. ## Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial Only 29 of the 110 cases were general courts-martial (26%), compared with 53% across contested Navy and Marine Corps cases. The other 81 were special courts-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. Sentences differed by court level. At general courts-martial, 80% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 1.5 years. At special courts-martial, 60% did, with a median of 3 months. ## Confinement Terms Were Short In all, 68 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 46 of those sentences included confinement (68%). The median confinement was 6 months, lower than the 7 months across contested Navy and Marine Corps cases. Confinement of more than one year was adjudged in 13 of 68 convictions (19%), compared with 24% in the comparison group. The table shows that most sentences were at the low end: 32% included no confinement and another 32% included under 6 months. Only 4 sentences (6%) were 5 years or more. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 22 | 32% | 34% | | Under 6 months | 22 | 32% | 28% | | 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 16% | 14% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 9 | 13% | 16% | | 5 years or more | 4 | 6% | 8% | ## Most Cases Charged Only a Drug Offense Most of these cases involved only the drug charge. Only 48 of the 110 cases charged at least one other article. The most common other charges were Article 92 (orders violation) in 18, Article 81 (conspiracy) in 12, Article 86 (AWOL) in 11, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 8, and Article 128 (assault) in 7. ## Rank and Location of the Accused Among the accused with rank recorded, 58 were junior enlisted, 41 were NCOs, and 3 were officers. The accused here were more junior than in contested Navy and Marine Corps cases overall. San Diego, California, and Norfolk, Virginia, each had 18 of these cases. Bremerton, Washington, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, each had 10, and Camp Pendleton, California, had 8\. Together those five locations account for 58% of the 110 cases. Large fleet and base areas try more cases of every kind, so a high count is not a sign of a local drug problem. ## More Cases After 2020 The yearly counts were small through 2020: 8 in 2017, 5 in 2018, 6 in 2019, and 5 in 2020\. The count was 23 in 2021 and 24 in 2022, 8 in 2023, 17 in 2024, and 14 in 2025. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. The contested counts here use only the records that list one. The early yearly counts therefore include only cases whose records list a plea. The records cannot show the reason for the later changes. ## Rule Changes and What the Data Leaves Out 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 within new sentencing parameters. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and new rules. Trial records list charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the substance involved, the plea terms, or drug cases handled outside a court-martial through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 112a on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2017–2025: where the accused contested a charge under Article 112a (drug) (110 cases), compared with all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) (hub) - [Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-112a-trend-2017-2025/) - [How Much Confinement for an Article 112a Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-112a-sent-2017-2025/) - [When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Guilty to Drug](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-112a-plea-2017-2025/) - [How Often Are Contested Army Article 112a Cases Acquitted?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-112a-acq-2021-2025/) (another service) - [Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-acq-2017-2025/) - [Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-120b-acq-2017-2025/) - [S3 E52: What You Need to Know About Positive UAs in the Military](https://www.bodiesburied.com/s3e52-what-you-need-to-know-about-positive-uas-in-the-military/) (podcast, members) - [Article 112a explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) **Compare: federal court.** [Federal Law Has No Crime of Drug Use: How Article 112a Cases Compare](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-no-crime-of-drug-use-article-112a/) · [Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-importation-vs-article-112a/) **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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.