Navy-Marine Corps Communicating Threats Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences

Trends › By Offense › Article 115 › Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4)

Based on 43 cases · 2021–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

No Full Acquittals, but Many Partial Acquittals

None of the 14 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. Another 7 cases (50%) ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another.

This group had no full acquittals but many partial acquittals. That differs from the wider Article 115 cases in these services. The records give the findings but not the evidence, so they cannot show the reason.

How Often the Accused Contested the Charges

The plea is listed in 42 of 43 records. Of those, 28 accused pleaded guilty and 14 contested at least one charge, a contested share of 33%. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 115 cases, the share was 31%, about the same.

The records do not show whether guilty pleas came with plea agreements or what any agreement provided. A contested case here means the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge, even if the accused pleaded guilty to others.

Assault Was the Most Common Other Charge

Threats were rarely charged alone. Article 115 was the only charge in 3 of 43 cases. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 24, Article 92 (orders violation) in 15, Article 134 (general article) in 12, and Article 128b (domestic violence) and Article 131b (obstruction) in 7 each.

A sentence covers every charge in the case. The outcomes below therefore include the sentences for these other offenses.

Punitive Discharges

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. Of 42 convicted junior enlisted members, 27 received one: 24 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges. That 64% compares with 60% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 115 cases.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. Administrative separations are not in these records.

Most Sentences Included Confinement

Confinement was part of 93% of the 42 convictions. Half of those terms were 6 months or less. That is the same 6 months median as across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 115 cases. A quarter were 11 months or longer.

Only 7% of convictions included no confinement, compared with 12% in the wider group. Long terms were slightly less common: confinement of more than one year was adjudged in 7 of 42 convictions (17%), compared with 21%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. Here, 9 of the 43 cases were general courts-martial (21%), compared with 29% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 115 cases.

The rest were special courts-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. Most accused in this group therefore faced a maximum of one year of confinement. Since 2019, a special court-martial tried by a military judge alone is capped at six months, with no punitive discharge.

Rank, Years, and Installations

Every accused was junior enlisted. Junior enlisted members made up 80% of all Navy and Marine Corps Article 115 cases.

The cases were tried from January 2021 through October 2025: 22 in 2021, 4 in 2022, 5 in 2023, 4 in 2024, and 8 in 2025. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 8. Quantico, Virginia, and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, had 5 each. Camp Pendleton, California, and San Diego, California, had 4 each. These five account for 60% of the 43. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

Rule Changes From December 2023

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than 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 parameters. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. Trials from 2024 on therefore include both old-rule and new-rule cases.

What These Records Do Not Include

Threats resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not in this data. The records do not describe the words or conduct behind a charge, the evidence, or the plea terms. With 43 cases, a few outcomes can change the percentages noticeably.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 115 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.