Article 121 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2017–2025

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Based on 321 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Larceny Convictions Followed a Guilty Plea

This post looks only at cases that ended in a conviction on at least one charge and included Article 121, the larceny and wrongful appropriation article. The comparison group is every Navy and Marine Corps conviction in the same years.

Of the 208 records that list a plea, 172 were guilty pleas and 36 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The 17% contested share is lower than the 24% for all convictions. Every case here ended in a conviction on at least one charge, so no case here ended in a full acquittal. A contested case could still end in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.

The Same Median, Fewer Long Terms

Of 321 convictions, 258 included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as for all Navy and Marine Corps convictions, A quarter of the sentences were 1 year or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.

Long sentences were less common. 50 of 321 convictions (16%) included confinement longer than one year, compared with 25% for all convictions. Only 2% included 5 years or more, compared with 7%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year were more common: 31% of convictions, compared with 22% for all Navy and Marine Corps convictions.

Special Courts-Martial Handled Most Cases

90 cases were general courts-martial and 231 were special courts-martial. The general court-martial share, 28%, is lower than the 41% for all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. 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 level. The median confinement was 1.5 years at general courts-martial and 5 months at special courts-martial. Contested shares were about the same: 18% and 17%.

Discharges Matched the Service-Wide Rate

Among 309 convicted enlisted members, 195 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (63%), about the same as the 62% for all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. Only 25 of those were dishonorable. The rest were bad-conduct discharges, the only kind a special court-martial can impose.

Of 7 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not track separations.

Conspiracy and False Statement Charges

225 of the 321 cases charged at least one other article. Article 107 (false official statement) appeared in 64, Article 92 (orders violation) in 57, Article 81 (conspiracy) in 54, Article 112a (drug) in 39, and Article 80 (attempt) in 27.

A conspiracy charge alleges an agreement with someone else to commit an offense, and an attempt charge covers an effort that did not succeed. Because these charges were common, many of these cases alleged more than a single completed theft by one person. The records do not link co-accused.

A More Senior Mix Than Most Convictions

The convicted members were 188 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 121 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 7 officers or warrant officers. This group is more senior than all Navy and Marine Corps convictions, where 65% were junior enlisted.

Where and When the Cases Were Tried

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had the most cases (69), followed by Camp Pendleton, California (39), San Diego, California (33), Okinawa, Japan (23), and Norfolk, Virginia (20). Together these five account for 57% of the total. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

The yearly counts were 44 in 2017, 54 in 2018, 45 in 2019, 32 in 2020, 38 in 2021, 22 in 2022, 30 in 2023, 30 in 2024, and 26 in 2025.

Rule Changes and Gaps

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, bringing judge-alone special courts-martial and written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide on covered offenses, and new sentencing parameters apply to offenses after December 27, 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot sort cases by which rules applied.

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum, so this post does not report who decided guilt. The records also omit the evidence, the plea terms, and larceny handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 121 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Theft and Fraud by Dollar Loss: Federal Sentences vs. Article 121 Courts-Martial

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.