> ## 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. # Pleading Guilty to Article 129 in the Navy-Marine Corps: What Sentences Followed? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-129-plea-2021-2025/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:07:03.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T05:14:00.000Z - Description: Navy and Marine Corps records show 34 guilty-plea courts-martial from 2021–2025 that included Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry). A punitive discharge was imposed in 79% of enlisted convictions, compared with 62% for all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 129, Navy-Marine Corps [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 129](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-129-courts-martial/) › Pleading Guilty to Article 129 in the Na **Short answer:** Navy and Marine Corps records show 34 guilty-plea courts-martial from 2021–2025 that included Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry). A punitive discharge was imposed in 79% of enlisted convictions, compared with 62% for all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 6 months for the broader group. Based on 34 cases · 2021–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Punitive Discharges Were More Common Than in Other Guilty Pleas Article 129 covers burglary and unlawful entry. In this group of guilty pleas, punitive discharges and confinement were both more common than in other Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas. Of enlisted convictions, 79% included a punitive discharge: 21 bad-conduct discharges and 6 dishonorable discharges. Across all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years, the share was 62%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## Almost Every Sentence Included Confinement Of 34 convictions, 31 included confinement. The median confinement was 8 months, longer than the 6-month median for all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas. A quarter of sentences were 1 year or longer. These are adjudged sentences: the sentences announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case. ## Most Sentences Were Between 6 Months and 1 Year Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up 14 convictions (41%), compared with 24% across Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas. Sentences under 6 months made up 32%, compared with 38%. Only 3 convictions (9%) included no confinement, compared with 17%. Confinement longer than one year was slightly less common: 6 of 34 convictions (18%), compared with 21%. Of those 6, 4 were between 1 and 5 years and 2 were 5 years or more. With only 34 cases, a single conviction changes each share noticeably. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | No confinement | 3 | 9% | 17% | | Under 6 months | 11 | 32% | 38% | | 6 months to 1 year | 14 | 41% | 24% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4 | 12% | 16% | | 5 years or more | 2 | 6% | 5% | ## Article 129 Was Rarely the Only Charge Article 129 was the only charge in 2 of the 34 cases. Article 128 (assault) was the most common other charge, in 14 cases. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 11, Article 92 (orders violation) in 9, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 8, and Article 134 (the general article) in 5. The same cases included property offenses, such as larceny, and offenses against a person, such as assault and sexual assault. One sentence covers all of the charges in a case. The outcomes above therefore describe whole cases. ## Sentences by Court Level Special courts-martial tried 24 of the cases, and general courts-martial tried 10\. The general court-martial share was 29%, compared with 37% across all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years. At general courts-martial, 100% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 1.2 years. At special courts-martial, 88% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 6 months. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. ## Almost All Junior Enlisted By rank, the accused were 31 junior enlisted members, 3 NCOs, and 0 officers. That group was more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years. There were no officers among the convicted, so there were no dismissals. Every punitive discharge here went to an enlisted member. The 6 dishonorable discharges came from general courts-martial, the only level that can impose one. ## Case Counts and Installations Cases were tried from January 2021 to June 2025\. The yearly count was 8 in 2021, 13 in 2022, 7 in 2023, 5 in 2024, and 1 in 2025\. The 2025 case was tried in June. The records cannot show the reasons for the decrease. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 10 cases. Norfolk, Virginia and Camp Pendleton, California tried 4 each, and San Diego, California and Okinawa, Japan tried 3 each. Together those five installations account for 71% of the 34 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a count alone does not show that a base has a burglary problem. ## Law Changes During These Years Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Article 120 was charged in 8 of these cases, so some may fall under that system if the offense dates qualify. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not include. Trials from 2024 on therefore include cases under both sets of rules. The records cannot show whether either change affected these outcomes. ## What the Records Do Not Show Only cases tried by court-martial are counted. Cases handled by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2021–2025: where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry) (34 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](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 129 (Burglary Before 2019, Burglary and Unlawful Entry Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-129-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/sentences/) (hub) - [How Has Article 129 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2021?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-129-trend-2021-2025/) - [Article 129 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-129-sent-2021-2025/) - [How Often Are Contested Navy-Marine Corps Article 129 Cases Acquitted?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-129-acq-2021-2025/) - [Pleading Guilty to Article 129 in the Army: What Sentences Followed?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-129-plea-2021-2025/) (another service) - [Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Cases: How Often, and What Came Next](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-plea-2017-2025/) - [Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Assault Cases: How Often, and What Came Next](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-plea-2017-2025/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](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.