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# How Much Confinement for an Article 82 Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps?
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-82-sent-2017-2025/
- Published: 2026-10-28T08:06:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T08:05:03.000Z
- Description: The 88 Navy and Marine Corps convictions under Article 82 (solicitation) from 2017–2025 carried a median confinement of 1.1 years, compared with 6 months across all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. A quarter of the sentences were 6 years or longer.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 82, Navy-Marine Corps

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 82](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-82-courts-martial/) › How Much Confinement for an Article 82 C

**Short answer:** The 88 Navy and Marine Corps convictions under Article 82 (solicitation) from 2017–2025 carried a median confinement of 1.1 years, compared with 6 months across all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. A quarter of the sentences were 6 years or longer. Of convicted enlisted members, 79% received a punitive discharge, compared with 62%.

Based on 88 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Many Short Sentences and Many Long Ones

Many solicitation sentences were 1 year or less: 13 convictions were under 6 months and 25 were from 6 months to 1 year. Another 24 convictions (27%) were 5 years or more, compared with 7% across all Navy and Marine Corps convictions.

In all, 77 of the 88 sentences included confinement (88%). The median confinement was 1.1 years, and a quarter of sentences were 6 years or longer. More than one year was adjudged in 39 of 88 convictions (44%), compared with 25% across the service.

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

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps convictions in those years |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 11          | 12%        | 18%                                                         |
| Under 6 months                  | 13          | 15%        | 35%                                                         |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 25          | 28%        | 22%                                                         |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 15          | 17%        | 18%                                                         |
| 5 years or more                 | 24          | 27%        | 7%                                                          |

## Other Charges in These Cases

Article 82 makes it a crime to solicit or advise another person to commit an offense. It was the only charge in 2 of the 88 cases. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 40, Article 112a (drug) in 28, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 22, Article 80 (attempt) in 21, and Article 81 (conspiracy) in 19.

These charges range from drug offenses to child sexual abuse. Every sentence covers all of the findings in its case. The records do not show how much of a sentence was for the solicitation finding.

## Sentences by Court Level

General courts-martial tried 51 of these cases (58%), compared with 41% across all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. Special courts-martial tried 37\. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge.

At general courts-martial, 96% of convictions brought confinement, with a median of 3 years. At special courts-martial, 76% did, with a median of 7 months.

## Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges

A punitive discharge followed 79% of enlisted convictions, compared with 62% across the service. There were 33 bad-conduct discharges and 32 dishonorable discharges. A dishonorable discharge, the more severe of the two, can come only from a general court-martial.

The records include 5 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 2 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

## Pleas and Verdicts

Of the 88 records, 55 list a plea: 44 guilty pleas and 11 not-guilty or mixed pleas. A not-guilty or mixed plea makes a case contested. The contested share, 20%, is slightly lower than the 24% across the service.

This page covers convictions only, so there are no full acquittals. In 2 of the 11 contested cases (18%), the result was a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.

## Who Was Convicted

Among the accused with rank recorded, 62 were junior enlisted, 20 were NCOs, and 5 were officers. The group is more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps convictions in these years.

## Installations and Years

Five installations account for 73% of the 88 cases: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (20), Camp Pendleton, California (14), Okinawa, Japan (12), Bremerton, Washington (10), and Norfolk, Virginia (8). Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show a problem at any one base.

There were 13 cases in 2017 and 19 in 2018\. Each year after that had between 5 and 15 cases through 2025\. The records cannot explain the yearly changes.

## Law Changes

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and brought in written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. For cases where every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the judge sets the sentence within new parameters. The records do not give offense dates, so recent trials include cases under both sets of rules.

## What the Records Do Not Show

These records cover only cases that went to court-martial. They do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so plea counts use only records that include it.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2017–2025: ending in a conviction under Article 82 (solicitation) (88 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps convictions in those years.

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

## Related Analysis

- [Article 82 (Soliciting): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-82-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/sentences/) (hub)
- [Navy-Marine Corps Article 82 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-82-trend-2017-2025/)
- [Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Solicitation Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-82-acq-2017-2025/)
- [When Navy-Marine Corps Accused Plead Guilty to Solicitation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-82-plea-2017-2025/)
- [How Much Confinement for an Article 82 Conviction in the Army?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-82-sent-2021-2025/) (another service)
- [How Much Confinement for an Article 82 Conviction in the Air Force?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-82-sent-2016-2025/) (another service)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.