When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Guilty to Solicitation

Trends › By Offense › Article 82 › When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Gui

Based on 44 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Sentences Longer Than in Other Guilty Pleas

Article 82 makes it a crime to solicit or advise another person to commit an offense. In the 44 Navy and Marine Corps cases where the accused pleaded guilty to charges that included it, every case ended in a conviction. The sentences were much longer than in all guilty pleas.

Of the 44 sentences, 39 included confinement. The median confinement was 1.2 years, longer than the 6 months in all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years. A quarter of these sentences were 7 years or longer.

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

Many Sentences of 5 Years or More

Sentences of 5 years or more made up 30% of these convictions, compared with 5% across all guilty pleas. Sentences longer than one year were also more common: 20 of 44 convictions (45%), compared with 21%.

Short sentences were less common. Only 9% of these convictions carried less than 6 months, compared with 40% in all guilty pleas. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year made up 34%, compared with 24%. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement; a special court-martial is capped at one year.

Solicitation Came With Other Charges

Article 82 was the only charge in 1 of the 44 cases. The most common other charges were Article 134 (the general article) in 18 cases, Article 112a (drug offenses) in 15, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 12, Article 80 (attempt) in 10, and Article 81 (conspiracy) in 9.

A sentence covers every charge, so these other convictions are part of every figure on this page. The records do not show how much of a sentence was for any one charge.

General and Special Courts-Martial

Of the 44 cases, 27 (61%) were general courts-martial, the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. The other 17 were special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year.

The median confinement was 2.3 years at general courts-martial and 7 months at special courts-martial. The special court-martial median was also higher than the 6-month median for all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas.

Punitive Discharges

Of 39 convicted enlisted members, 30 received a punitive discharge: 16 dishonorable and 14 bad-conduct. Across all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas, the punitive-discharge share was 60%.

The records include 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Who Pleaded Guilty

The accused included 32 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 7 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 4 were officers or warrant officers. That mix is more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years, where 65% were junior enlisted.

All 44 pleaded guilty, so none of these cases was contested. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so earlier solicitation cases appear here only when the record lists a guilty plea.

Years and Installations

The data holds 44 cases from January 2017 to November 2025: 5 in 2017, 5 in 2018, 1 in 2019, 6 in 2020, 8 in 2021, 6 in 2022, 4 in 2023, 5 in 2024, and 4 in 2025.

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (9), Bremerton, Washington (8), Norfolk, Virginia (6), Camp Pendleton, California (4), and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay (4) had the most cases. Together they account for 70% of the 44 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so these counts do not show a problem at any one base.

Law Changes in This Period

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It brought fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. Both depend on offense dates the records do not give.

What the Records Do Not Show

The records do not say what was solicited, describe the evidence, or give plea terms. Cases handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included.

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.