Quantico, Virginia, 2019–2023 vs. 2024–2026: A Side-by-Side Look
Quantico, Virginia held 49 courts-martial from February 2024 through August 2026, and 51% of them were contested. That compares with 34% in 2019–2023 and 36% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 1 year, compared with 6 months service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › By Installation › Quantico, Virginia › Before and after 2024
Short answer: Quantico, Virginia held 49 courts-martial from February 2024 through August 2026, and 51% of them were contested. That compares with 34% in 2019–2023 and 36% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 1 year, compared with 6 months service-wide. Only 3 of 24 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
More Contested Cases
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 47 Quantico records that list a plea, 24 were contested and 23 were guilty pleas. That 51% contested share compares with 36% across the Navy and Marine Corps in the same years.
The records do not show why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges. They also do not show the terms of any plea agreement.
Results in Contested Cases
Of 24 contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal (12%). That is lower than the 26% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. Another 11 (46%) ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another.
Most cases charging the most common articles ended in a conviction on that article. Article 134 and Article 128b (domestic violence) each ended in a conviction in every case charging them: 11 of 11 and 10 of 10. Article 112a ended in a conviction in 10 of 11. The median confinement after a conviction was 2.8 years for Article 134, 1 year for Article 128b, and 4 months for Article 112a.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 11 | 10 (91%) | 4 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 11 (100%) | 2.8 years |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 10 | 10 (100%) | 1 year |
Compared With 2019–2023
The 2019–2023 records show 70 Quantico cases over 5 years, about 14 a year. Since 2024 there have been about 20 a year, counting full years: 17 cases in 2024, 22 in 2025, and 10 so far in 2026, a partial year.
The contested share went from 34% to 51%. Median confinement went from 6 months to 1 year. General courts-martial went from 36% to 50% of cases with a court level listed. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 0 of 13 to 3 of 24. Convictions with confinement went from 75% to 52%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members were about the same: 60% before and 58% since. A few cases can change numbers of this size, so these changes show direction, not precise size.
| 2019–2023 | 2024–2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 70 | 49 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 34% | 51% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 0 of 13 | 3 of 24 |
| Convictions with confinement | 75% | 52% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 1 year |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 60% | 58% |
| General courts-martial | 36% | 50% |
Drugs, False Statements, and Domestic Violence
Charges are listed for 48 of the 49 cases. Each article counts once per case. Article 112a (drug offenses) and Article 134 each appeared in 23% of cases. The drug share compares with 12% service-wide. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 21%, compared with 12%.
Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 15% of cases, compared with 5% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared less often than elsewhere: 15%, compared with 19%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 11 | 23% | 12% |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 23% | 21% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 10 | 21% | 12% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 15% | 19% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 5 | 10% | 5% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 4 | 8% | 5% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 4 | 8% | 5% |
Fewer Sentences With Confinement, but Longer Ones
Of 44 convictions, only 23 included confinement (52%). Among those 23, the median confinement was 1 year, and a quarter of the sentences were 1.7 years or longer. 48% of convictions here carried no confinement, compared with 30% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
8 of 44 convictions (18%) carried more than one year of confinement, about the same as the 20% service-wide. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in a case. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 21 | 48% | 30% |
| Under 6 months | 9 | 20% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 6 | 14% | 14% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 11% | 13% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 7% | 7% |
Punitive Discharges After Conviction
58% of enlisted convictions included a punitive discharge: 15 bad-conduct and 6 dishonorable. That is higher than the 52% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in the same years. Of 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank and Court Level
NCOs made up 54% of the accused, junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) 41%, and officers 5%. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, junior enlisted members made up 59% of the accused.
There were 24 general and 24 special courts-martial, and the court level is not listed for 1 case. The 50% general share compares with 38% service-wide. General courts-martial had a median confinement of 1.5 years, and 48% were contested. Special courts-martial had a median of 3 months, and 54% were contested.
Compared With Similar Installations
Okinawa, Japan (50 cases) and Bremerton, Washington (52) tried a similar number of cases in the same years. Quantico had the highest contested share of the 3: 51%, compared with 22% and 33%. Its median confinement of 1 year was the same as Okinawa's. Bremerton's was 3 months.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantico, Virginia | 49 | 51% | 3 of 24 | 1 year | 58% |
| Okinawa, Japan | 50 | 22% | 4 of 11 | 1 year | 56% |
| Bremerton, Washington | 52 | 33% | 6 of 17 | 3 months | 33% |
Rule Changes the Data Cannot Separate
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on offense dates, which these records do not give. For that reason, the recent trials include cases under both the old and the new rules.
The records also do not show the evidence, plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, or administrative separations.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Quantico, Virginia in 2019–2023 (70) and 2024–2026 (49).
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
- Quantico, Virginia: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Quantico, Virginia Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 70 Cases Show
- Quantico, Virginia Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 49 Cases Show
- Quantico, Virginia Courts-Martial, 2013–2018: What 37 Cases Show
- Quantico, Virginia, 2013–2018 vs. 2019–2023: A Side-by-Side Look
- Bremerton, Washington Before and After 2019: How Its Courts-Martial Changed
- Bremerton, Washington Before and After 2024: How Its Courts-Martial Changed
- Great Lakes, Illinois Before and After 2019: How Its Courts-Martial Changed
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Quantico, Virginia, 2024–2026
- Benjamin Adams
- Stacy Allen
- Derek Butler
- Cory Carver
- Thomas Fricton
- Gable Hackman
- Ryan Lipton
- William Mossor
- Kyle Phillips
- Derek Poteet
- Ryan Sears
- Katherine Shovlin
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 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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.