Navy-Marine Corps Solicitation Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences

Trends › By Offense › Article 82 › NCOs (E-5 to E-9)

Based on 21 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Sentences at Both Ends of the Range

The 20 convictions included many short and many long confinement terms. Confinement of 5 years or more appeared in 7 convictions (35%), compared with 27% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 82 cases. Confinement under 6 months appeared in 6 (30%), compared with 15%.

Few convictions were in the middle band. Only 1 conviction carried 6 months to 1 year (5%), compared with 28% in the wider group. Another 3 carried no confinement (15%), and 3 carried more than 1 year but under 5 years (15%).

Sentences longer than one year made up 10 of 20 convictions (50%), compared with 44%. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.

Median Confinement of 3 Years

Of the 21 cases, 20 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Confinement was part of 17 sentences (85%). The median was 3 years, and a quarter of the confinement sentences were 8 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case.

Discharges: 10 Dishonorable, 2 Bad-Conduct

A punitive discharge followed 60% of the convictions: 10 dishonorable discharges and 2 bad-conduct discharges. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 82 cases, the share was 79%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Attempt and Child Sexual Abuse Charges

Solicitation was almost never charged alone. In 20 of the 21 cases, at least one other article was charged. Article 80 (attempt) and Article 134 (general article) each appeared in 10 cases, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 6, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 5, and Article 92 (orders violation) in 4. The sentences above cover these charges too.

Court Level and Rank

Of the 21 cases, 13 were general courts-martial (62%), compared with 60% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 82 cases. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Every accused here was an NCO. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 82 cases, 70% of the accused were junior enlisted members.

Pleas Listed in 10 Records

Only 10 of the 21 records list the plea, because Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit it. Of those 10, 7 were guilty pleas and 3 were not-guilty or mixed pleas, a contested share of 30%. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 82 cases, the share was 23%.

Locations and Years

Camp Pendleton, California had 7 cases. Okinawa, Japan and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay had 3 each, Quantico, Virginia had 2, and Yokosuka, Japan had 1. These account for 76% of the 21 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

The cases were tried from April 2017 to December 2025, with between 1 and 4 each year: 3 in 2017, 4 in 2018, 2 in 2019, 4 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 1 each in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and 3 in 2025.

Limits of the Records

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, and later changes began on December 28, 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied in each case. They also leave out nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, and the plea terms.

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.