Article 129 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025
In 55 Navy and Marine Corps convictions under Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry) from 2021–2025, the median confinement was 8 months. That is longer than the 6 months across all Navy and Marine Corps convictions.
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Short answer: In 55 Navy and Marine Corps convictions under Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry) from 2021–2025, the median confinement was 8 months. That is longer than the 6 months across all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. Confinement was part of 45 of the 55 sentences, and 69% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 59% service-wide.
Median Confinement Was 8 Months
Burglary and unlawful entry convictions had somewhat longer confinement than Navy and Marine Corps convictions in general. Among the 45 sentences with confinement, the median was 8 months. A quarter were 1.1 years or longer.
The difference is in the middle sentence range. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up 19 convictions (35%), compared with 21% across all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. Sentences under 6 months were less common: 25% compared with 36%. Confinement longer than one year was imposed in 12 of 55 convictions (22%), the same 22% as the service.
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.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps convictions in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 10 | 18% | 22% |
| Under 6 months | 14 | 25% | 36% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 19 | 35% | 21% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 15% | 16% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 7% | 5% |
Sentences Were Longer at General Courts-Martial
General courts-martial tried 23 of the 55 cases (42%), about the same as the 40% across the service. Special courts-martial tried 32. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement.
The median confinement was 2.2 years at general courts-martial and 6 months at special courts-martial. General court-martial cases were also contested more often: 57%, compared with 25% at special courts-martial.
More Contested Than Other Convictions
Every record here lists a plea. Of the 55 accused, 34 pleaded guilty and 21 pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. A case with a not-guilty plea to at least one charge is a contested case. The contested share was 38%, higher than the 28% across all Navy and Marine Corps convictions.
This post counts convictions only, so no contested case here ended in a full acquittal. Of the 21 contested cases, 8 (38%) were partial acquittals. The accused was acquitted of at least one charge or specification and convicted of another.
Punitive Discharges Were More Common Than Service-Wide
Of enlisted convictions, 69% included a punitive discharge: 28 bad-conduct discharges and 8 dishonorable discharges. That is higher than the 59% across all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. Either court level can impose a bad-conduct discharge. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge, so all 8 dishonorable discharges here came from general courts-martial.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These trial records do not track administrative separations.
Article 129 Was Rarely the Only Charge
Article 129 was the only charge in 5 of the 55 cases. Article 128 (assault) was also charged in 23. Article 121 (larceny) and Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 15 each, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 14, and Article 134 (general article) in 9.
A sentence covers all guilty findings together. The sentences above therefore include the punishment for those other charges, including sexual assault when it was part of the case.
No Officers in the Group
Among the accused with a recorded rank, 42 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 10 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 0 were officers or warrant officers. That group was more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps convictions in these years, where 66% were junior enlisted.
Case Counts and Installations
The yearly count fell each year. It was 17 in 2021, 14 in 2022, 10 in 2023, 9 in 2024, and 5 in 2025. The records cannot show the reasons for the decrease.
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 15 of the cases. Norfolk, Virginia tried 7, Camp Pendleton, California 6, Okinawa, Japan 5, and San Diego, California 3. Together these account for 65% of the 55 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a count alone does not single out a base.
Law Changes Late in the Period
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not 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 sentencing parameters. The records do not give offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and new rules.
What the Records Do Not Show
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. They do not include cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2021–2025: ending in a conviction under Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry) (55 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps convictions 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 129 (Burglary Before 2019, Burglary and Unlawful Entry Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Sentences (hub)
- How Has Article 129 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2021?
- How Often Are Contested Navy-Marine Corps Article 129 Cases Acquitted?
- Pleading Guilty to Article 129 in the Navy-Marine Corps: What Sentences Followed?
- What Sentence Follows an Army Burglary and Unlawful Entry Conviction? (another service)
- What Sentence Follows an Air Force Burglary and Unlawful Entry Conviction? (another service)
- 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.