Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Endangerment Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
The records hold 14 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2021–2025 where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 114 (endangerment).
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Trends › By Offense › Article 114 › Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Endang
Short answer: The records hold 14 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2021–2025 where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 114 (endangerment). The median confinement was 1 year, compared with 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years, and 71% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 62%.
A Median of 1 Year in Confinement
All 14 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 12 of the sentences included confinement (86%). The median confinement was 1 year. For all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years, the median was 6 months.
Among the sentences with confinement, a quarter were 1.3 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.
Orders Violations in 7 Cases
12 of the 14 cases charged at least one article besides Article 114. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 7 cases and Article 134 (general article) in 5. Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 4, Article 112a (drug) in 3, and Article 109 (property damage) in 2.
Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges
Among 14 enlisted members convicted, 10 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (71%). For all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years, the rate was 62%. 3 of the 10 were dishonorable discharges.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
General Courts-Martial and Rank
6 of the 14 cases were general courts-martial (43%), compared with 37% for all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
10 of the accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 4 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 0 were officers or warrant officers. That mix was more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years, where 68% were junior enlisted.
When the Trials Took Place
The 14 trials ran from May 2021 through October 2025. The records show 4 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 4 in 2025.
Legal Changes
On January 1, 2019, the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect, adding written plea agreements, fixed panel sizes, and a judge-alone special court-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge. On December 28, 2023, special trial counsel replaced commanders in deciding whether to prosecute covered offenses, which include sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder.
Sentencing also changed for cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023: the military judge sets the sentence within new parameters. Because the records give trial dates rather than offense dates, the trials from 2024 on include an unknown mix of old-rule and new-rule cases.
Limits of These Records
The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not in these records.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2021–2025: where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 114 (endangerment) (14 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 114 (Dueling Before 2019, Endangerment Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Sentences (hub)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Endangerment Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 114, 2021–2025
- Pleading Guilty to Article 114 in the Army: What Sentences Followed? (another service)
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Assault Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Child Endangerment Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- 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.