> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Nellis AFB, Nevada, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 30 Cases - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/nellis-afb-nevada-courts-martial-2016-2018/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:31:30.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:03:11.000Z - Description: Nellis AFB, Nevada tried 30 courts-martial from 2016 to 2018, and none of the 27 convictions included a sentence of more than one year. Drug charges under Article 112a were in 69% of cases with listed charges, compared with 48% Air Force-wide. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Nellis AFB, Nevada, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) › [Nellis AFB, Nevada](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-nellis-afb-nevada/) › 2016–2018 **Short answer:** Nellis AFB, Nevada tried 30 courts-martial from 2016 to 2018, and none of the 27 convictions included a sentence of more than one year. Drug charges under Article 112a were in 69% of cases with listed charges, compared with 48% Air Force-wide. Of convicted enlisted members, 41% received a punitive discharge, compared with 55% in the rest of the Air Force. Based on 30 cases · 2016–2018 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## No Sentence Longer Than One Year Sentences at Nellis were short. Of 27 convictions, 0 included confinement of more than one year. In the rest of the Air Force, 21% did. Confinement was part of 81% of convictions. Half of those sentences were 3 months or less, compared with a 4-month median Air Force-wide. A quarter were 4 months or longer. Sentences under 6 months made up 67% of convictions here, compared with 46% in the rest of the Air Force. There was no confinement in 19% of convictions, about the same as the 18% in the rest of the Air Force. These are adjudged sentences: the 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, the rest of the Air Force | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | -------------------------------- | | No confinement | 5 | 19% | 18% | | Under 6 months | 18 | 67% | 46% | | 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 15% | 14% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 0 | 0% | 13% | | 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 8% | ## Mostly Special Courts-Martial General courts-martial made up 20% of these cases (6 of 30). Special courts-martial made up the rest. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge. The records do not show why a case was sent to one level or the other. They show only the level at which it was tried. ## Drug Charges in Most Cases Of the 26 cases whose records list charges, 18 included Article 112a, which covers wrongful use and possession of controlled substances. That 69% share compares with 48% across the rest of the Air Force. Article 111, drunken or reckless driving under the numbering used before 2019, was charged in 12% of cases, compared with 4% in the rest of the Air Force. Article 86, absence without leave, was charged in 8%, compared with 4%. Article 134, the general article, was charged less often than Air Force-wide: 15%, compared with 25%. One case can include several articles, so the shares overlap. | UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Air Force | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | -------------------------------- | | [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 18 | 69% | 48% | | [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article | 4 | 15% | 25% | | [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 12% | 16% | | Art. 111 Drunken or reckless driving | 3 | 12% | 4% | | [Art. 107](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) False official statements | 2 | 8% | 7% | | [Art. 86](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?ref=bodiesburied.com) AWOL | 2 | 8% | 4% | | [Art. 121](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-121/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Larceny | 1 | 4% | 7% | | Art. 85 Desertion | 1 | 4% | 1% | ## Fewer Punitive Discharges A punitive discharge followed 41% of enlisted convictions: 10 bad-conduct discharges and 1 dishonorable discharge. The Air Force-wide share was 55%. For enlisted members, a punitive discharge means a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not include. ## Full Acquittals Measured Against All Cases Of the 30 cases, 3 ended in a full acquittal (10%), compared with 20% across the Air Force. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list the plea when the accused pleaded guilty. For that reason, the rate here uses all cases, not only contested cases. The share of cases that were contested also cannot be measured for this period. ## Officer Panels Heard 11 Cases The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. At Nellis, a judge alone decided 18 cases, an officer panel decided 11, and an enlisted panel decided 1. Members heard 40% of cases, slightly lower than the 45% across the Air Force. ## Rank of the Accused Of the accused, 17 were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 13 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 0 were officers or warrant officers. That mix is more senior than the Air Force as a whole, where 63% were junior enlisted. ## Ramstein and Barksdale Compared Ramstein AB, Germany tried 29 cases, and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana tried 27, in the same years. Both had a longer median confinement than Nellis: 5 months at Ramstein and 4 months at Barksdale, compared with 3 months here. Punitive discharges for enlisted members were also more common at both: 45% and 53%. | Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) | | ------------------------ | ----- | --------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------ | ----------------------------- | | Nellis AFB, Nevada | 30 | — | — | 3 months | 41% | | Ramstein AB, Germany | 29 | — | — | 5 months | 45% | | Barksdale AFB, Louisiana | 27 | — | — | 4 months | 53% | ## Cases by Year and the 2019 Changes There were 4 cases in 2016, 14 in 2017, and 11 in 2018\. Together they are 3% of the 991 Air Force courts-martial in those years. All were tried before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. That law set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements. Cases with offenses from before 2019 kept the old rules. ## What the Records Do Not Show Only cases that reached a courtroom appear here. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, and cases with no action are not included. The records do not show the evidence or plea terms. Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals and never report plea agreements, and the dates are trial dates, not offense dates. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Every court-martial in the data tried at Nellis AFB, Nevada with a trial date in 2016–2018 (30 cases), compared with all 991 Air Force trials in those years. Dates are trial dates. 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 - [Nellis AFB, Nevada: Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-nellis-afb-nevada/) (hub) - [Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) (hub) - [What Was Tried at Nellis AFB, Nevada, 2019–2023? 46 Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/nellis-afb-nevada-courts-martial-2019-2023/) (another period) - [Nellis AFB, Nevada, 2024–2026: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 16 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/nellis-afb-nevada-courts-martial-2024-2026/) (another period) - [Ramstein AB, Germany Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 29 Cases Show](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ramstein-ab-germany-courts-martial-2016-2018/) (same years, similar size) - [Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 27 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/barksdale-afb-louisiana-courts-martial-2016-2018/) (same years, similar size) - [Did Drug Cases at Nellis AFB, Nevada Change After 2019?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/nellis-afb-nevada-article-112a-before-after-2019/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) Next: [What Was Tried at Nellis AFB, Nevada, 2019–2023? 46 Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/nellis-afb-nevada-courts-martial-2019-2023/) → ## Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Nellis AFB, Nevada, 2016–2018 - [John C. Degnan](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-john-c-degnan/) - [Joseph S. Imburgia](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-joseph-s-imburgia/) - [Christina M. Jimenez](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-christina-m-jimenez/) - [Jennifer E. Powell](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-jennifer-e-powell/) - [Lyndell M. Powell](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-lyndell-m-powell/) - [Natalie D. Richardson](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-natalie-d-richardson/) - [Mark F. Rosenow](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-mark-f-rosenow/) - [Shelly W. Schools](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-shelly-w-schools/) - [Christopher M. Schumann](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-christopher-m-schumann/) - [Matthew D. Talcott](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-matthew-d-talcott/) - [Brendon K. Tukey](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-brendon-k-tukey/) - [Bryan D. Watson](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-bryan-d-watson/) Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the [Court-Martial Characters](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judges/) membership. **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.