Fewer or More? Conspiracy Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025

Trends › By Offense › Article 81 › Navy-Marine Corps

Based on 249 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Drug Charges Were the Most Common Other Charge

Only 6 of the 249 cases charged Article 81 alone. The most common other charge was Article 112a (drug), in 119 cases. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 54, Article 92 (orders violation) in 48, Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019) in 43, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 33.

Each sentence covers all of a case's charges, so the confinement and discharge figures include the drug, larceny, and obstruction charges in the same cases.

Few Contested Cases and Few Full Acquittals

Of the 160 records that list a plea, 128 were guilty pleas and 32 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share, 20%, was lower than the 32% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases. Records from before December 2020 often omit the plea, so only those that list one are counted.

Of the 32 contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal (9%), compared with 31% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Another 6 ended in a partial acquittal, meaning not guilty of at least one charge but guilty of another.

Somewhat Longer Confinement

Of 245 convictions, 226 carried confinement. The median confinement was 9 months, longer than the 6 months in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of sentences were 1.5 years or more.

Only 8% of convictions carried no confinement, compared with 18% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year made up 31%, compared with 22%. Sentences longer than one year followed 78 of 245 convictions (32%), compared with 25%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

A Discharge for Most Convicted Enlisted Members

A punitive discharge followed 81% of enlisted convictions: 149 bad-conduct and 43 dishonorable. The rate across the Navy and Marine Corps was 62%. The convicted also included 4 officers or warrant officers, 2 of whom were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Sentences by Court Level

A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge; a special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. Here 113 cases were tried at general courts-martial (45%, compared with 43% across the Navy and Marine Corps), and 136 at special courts-martial.

At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 1.5 years, and 27% of cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median was 5 months, and 16% were contested.

Cases by Year

There were 38 cases in 2017, 43 in 2018, 32 in 2019, 26 in 2020, and 46 in 2021. There were 16 in 2022, 13 in 2023, 13 in 2024, and 22 in 2025. The 249 cases, tried from January 2017 to November 2025, are 7% of the 3,740 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.

The most convictions including Article 81 in a single year was 45, in 2021. That was 12% of convictions with offenses listed. In 2017–2019, conspiracy was part of 111 of 1,243 convictions (9%). In 2023–2025, it was part of 47 of 940 (5%), a smaller share. Shares of convictions make years with different numbers of cases comparable. The records do not explain the change.

Rank and Installation

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 78% of the accused, NCOs 20%, and officers 2%. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases, junior enlisted members were 63%, so this group is more junior.

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 57 cases, more than any other installation. Norfolk, Virginia had 26, Camp Pendleton, California 25, Bremerton, Washington 24, and San Diego, California 20. Those five account for 61% of the 249 cases. Larger installations try more cases of all kinds, so a high count alone does not show a local problem.

Law Changes and What the Records Do Not Show

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It brought written plea agreements, fixed panel sizes, and judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For offenses after December 27, 2023, judges sentence within new parameters. The records give trial dates but not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied.

The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: 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.