Parris Island, South Carolina, 2017–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 20 Cases
The records hold 20 courts-martial at Parris Island, South Carolina from 2017–2018. The median confinement was 2 years, compared with 7 months across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years.
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Trends › By Installation › Parris Island, South Carolina › 2017–2018
Short answer: The records hold 20 courts-martial at Parris Island, South Carolina from 2017–2018. The median confinement was 2 years, compared with 7 months across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 32% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 15% across the service.
Longer Confinement Than the Service Median
All 20 cases ended in a conviction, and 80% of those convictions included confinement. Half of the confinement terms were 2 years or less. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years, the median was 7 months.
Among the Parris Island sentences that included confinement, a quarter were 10 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
Sentences by Length
Sentences of more than one year were more common here: 8 of 20 convictions (40%), compared with 30% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 25% of convictions here and 10% elsewhere in the service.
Shorter sentences were less common. Confinement under 6 months made up 20% of convictions here, compared with 34% in the rest of the service. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 20% | 12% |
| Under 6 months | 4 | 20% | 34% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 20% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 15% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 5 | 25% | 10% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
The cases were split evenly: 10 general courts-martial and 10 special courts-martial. The median confinement was 6 years at the general courts-martial and 6 months at the special courts-martial.
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Which Articles Were Charged?
Charges are listed in 19 of the 20 records, and one case can include several articles. Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge, in 42% of those cases, compared with 35% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 32%, compared with 15%. Article 120, Article 134, and Article 80 each appeared in 21%. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 11%, compared with 29% elsewhere in the service. Obstruction appears as Article 131b, numbered since 2019, in 16% of cases.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 8 | 42% | 35% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 32% | 15% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 21% | 18% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 21% | 14% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 4 | 21% | 11% |
| Art. 131b Obstruction, numbered since 2019 | 3 | 16% | 5% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 2 | 11% | 29% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 11% | 10% |
Punitive Discharges
Of the 19 enlisted members convicted, 12 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (63%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the share was 67%. Of the 12 discharges, 7 were dishonorable.
The records include 1 convicted officer, who was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank and Timing
By rank, 9 of the accused were junior enlisted members, 10 were NCOs, and 1 was an officer. The group was more senior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years.
The trials ran from March 2017 through December 2018, with 9 in 2017 and 11 in 2018. They were 2% of the 1,002 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.
Pensacola and Mayport
Pensacola, Florida tried 23 cases in the same years, and Mayport, Florida tried 25. The median confinement was 5 months at Pensacola and 6 months at Mayport, compared with 2 years at Parris Island. Punitive discharges followed 55% and 56% of enlisted convictions at those installations, compared with 63% here.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parris Island, South Carolina | 20 | 0 of 1 | — | 2 years | 63% |
| Pensacola, Florida | 23 | 13% | 2 of 3 | 5 months | 55% |
| Mayport, Florida | 25 | 38% | 4 of 9 | 6 months | 56% |
Before the 2019 Rules
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law later set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial, and brought in written plea agreements. None of those changes applied to these cases.
Gaps in the Records
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. For Parris Island in these years, a plea is recorded in only 1 case, so this page does not report a contested share. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, and they do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations are not included.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Parris Island, South Carolina with a trial date in 2017–2018 (20 cases), compared with all 1,002 Navy and Marine Corps trials in those years. Dates are trial dates.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Parris Island, South Carolina: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Inside 44 Courts-Martial at Parris Island, South Carolina, 2019–2023 (another period)
- Parris Island, South Carolina, 2024–2026: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 17 Cases (another period)
- What Was Tried at MCAS Miramar, California, 2017–2018? 26 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Inside 13 Courts-Martial at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, 2017–2018 (same years, similar size)
- Bremerton, Washington Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 52 Cases Show
- Bremerton, Washington, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 221 Cases
- Bremerton, Washington, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 153 Cases
- Search every case in 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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.