Conspiracy at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017: The Year in Numbers
In 2017, 38 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 81 (conspiracy), and none of the 13 with a recorded plea was contested, compared with 26% across the service.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 81 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2017
Short answer: In 2017, 38 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 81 (conspiracy), and none of the 13 with a recorded plea was contested, compared with 26% across the service. Every case ended in a conviction with confinement, and 87% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 68% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year.
Only Guilty Pleas on Record
Only 13 of the 38 records list a plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. All 13 show a guilty plea. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, and the contested share here was 0%, compared with 26% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2017.
The other records do not list a plea, so the figure covers only the cases with a recorded plea. It cannot show whether any of the other cases were contested. The data give no acquittal figures for this group.
Every Case Included Other Charges
None of the 38 cases charged Article 81 alone. Drug charges were the most common other charge: Article 112a (drug) appeared in 24 cases. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 11, Article 92 (orders violation) in 9, Article 80 (attempt) in 6, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 5.
A court-martial sentence covers all charges together, so the sentences below are for the whole case, not for the conspiracy charge alone.
Confinement in Every Conviction
All 38 cases ended in a conviction, and confinement was part of 100% of them. The median confinement was 9 months, about the same as the 8 months median for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2017. A quarter of sentences were 1.5 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
Sentence Lengths by Band
The bands with 12 convictions each (32%) were under 6 months, 6 months to 1 year, and more than 1 year but under 5 years. Only 2 convictions (5%) were 5 years or more, compared with 10% across the service. Every conviction included confinement, while 10% of all service convictions had none.
In total, 14 of 38 convictions (37%) brought more than one year, somewhat higher than the 31% service figure. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 0 | 0% | 10% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 32% | 37% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 12 | 32% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 12 | 32% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 5% | 10% |
Sentences by Court Level
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, while a special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Here, 22 cases were tried at a general court-martial and 16 at a special court-martial. The general share was 58%, compared with 44% across the service.
The median confinement was 1.4 years at the general level and 5 months at the special level.
A special court-martial cannot adjudge more than one year, so every sentence longer than one year here came from a general court-martial. The 11 dishonorable discharges described below also required a general court-martial.
Most Convicted Members Received a Punitive Discharge
Of 38 convicted enlisted members, 33 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (87%), and 11 of those were dishonorable. The share across the Navy and Marine Corps was 68%. A sentence without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation, which these records do not show.
Rank and Installation
The accused were 31 junior enlisted members and 7 NCOs, with no officers. This group was more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2017.
Most cases came from a few installations. Bremerton, Washington and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 10 each, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay tried 7, San Diego, California tried 4, and MCAS Miramar, California tried 3. These five installations account for 89% of the 38 cases. Large installations try more cases of every type, so a high count alone does not show a problem at any one base.
Compared With 2016
The number of cases went from 21 in 2016 to 38 in 2017. The contested share went from 5% to 0%. Median confinement went from 8 months to 9 months, and punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 85% to 87%. Convictions with confinement stayed at 100%. The general court-martial share went from 38% to 58%. In small groups a few cases can change each figure, so the changes show direction only.
| 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 21 | 38 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 5% | 0% |
| Convictions with confinement | 100% | 100% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 9 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 85% | 87% |
| General courts-martial | 38% | 58% |
Before the Military Justice Act, and the Limits
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law brought fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months without a punitive discharge, and written plea agreements. None of those changes applied here.
The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, plea terms, offense dates, or conduct handled through 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 with a trial date in 2017 that charged Article 81 (38 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year and with 2016.
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 81 (Conspiracy): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- How Navy-Marine Corps Conspiracy Cases Ended in 2018 (previous / next)
- Fewer or More? Conspiracy Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025 (the full trend)
- How Navy-Marine Corps Conspiracy Cases Ended in 2019
- How Navy-Marine Corps Conspiracy Cases Ended in 2020
- How Navy-Marine Corps Conspiracy Cases Ended in 2025
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 81 Cases in 2021
- How Much Confinement for an Article 81 Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps?
- 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.