Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 112a in the Navy-Marine Corps

Trends › By Offense › Article 112a › Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4)

Based on 614 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Full Acquittals at Trial

Of 58 contested cases that reached a verdict, 10 ended in a full acquittal and 15 ended in a partial acquittal. A partial acquittal means the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.

The 17% full-acquittal rate was much lower than the 38% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases. The records show the outcome but not the evidence. They cannot show why contested drug cases against junior members ended in a full acquittal less often.

Most Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often leave out the plea, and 404 of 614 records list one. Of those, 346 were guilty pleas and 58 contested at least one charge. That contested share of 14% compares with 20% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases.

Nearly every case ended in a conviction: 604 of 614. These records do not show whether a plea came with an agreement or what the agreement said.

Discharges After a Drug Conviction

A punitive discharge was part of the sentence in 71% of enlisted convictions: 368 bad-conduct discharges and 62 dishonorable discharges. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases, the share was 67%.

A member whose sentence included no punitive discharge could still face administrative separation. These court records do not include administrative separations.

Confinement Was About the Same as the Service Overall

Of 604 convictions, 562 included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases. A quarter of sentences were 11 months or longer.

Confinement of more than one year was adjudged in 105 of 604 convictions (17%), the same 17% as in the wider group. Only 7% of convictions included no confinement, compared with 10%. These are adjudged sentences, set before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.

Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial

A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. Of these cases, 462 were special courts-martial and 152 were general courts-martial (25%, compared with 24% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases).

The median confinement was 1.3 years at general courts-martial and 4 months at special courts-martial. The contested share was 23% at the general level and 12% at the special level.

Drug Charges Alone or With Other Charges

Article 112a was the only charge in 242 of 614 cases. In cases with other charges, the most common were Article 92 (orders violation) in 110, Article 81 (conspiracy) in 104, Article 86 (AWOL) in 65, Article 107 (false official statement) in 47, and Article 128 (assault) in 46.

The Number of Cases Went Down Each Year

Cases were tried from January 2017 through December 2025. There were 119 cases in 2017, 95 in 2018, 88 in 2019, 82 in 2020, 86 in 2021, 59 in 2022, 33 in 2023, 31 in 2024, and 21 in 2025. The records do not show the reason for the decrease.

All 614 accused were junior enlisted. Junior enlisted members made up 78% of all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases.

Installations With the Most Cases

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 109 cases. Camp Pendleton, California, had 106; Bremerton, Washington, 76; Norfolk, Virginia, 59; and San Diego, California, 57. Together they account for 66% of the 614. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with drugs.

Law Changes and Missing Information

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and brought in written plea agreements. Cases with offenses from before 2019 kept the old rules. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. Judges also sentence within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records do not give offense dates, so cases cannot be sorted by the rules that applied.

Drug use handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation does not appear in these records.

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.