Quantico, Virginia Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 70 Cases Show
Quantico, Virginia tried 70 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023, and 0 of the 13 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the rate was 29%.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › By Installation › Quantico, Virginia › 2019–2023
Short answer: Quantico, Virginia tried 70 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023, and 0 of the 13 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the rate was 29%. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 32% of cases with listed charges, compared with 18% service-wide. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the service median.
No Full Acquittals in Contested Cases
Of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 0 ended in a full acquittal (0%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps in those years, 29% of contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
4 of the 13 cases (31%) ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another. The records do not describe the evidence, so they cannot show the reason for any verdict.
Every Top Charge Ended in a Conviction
Every case charging one of the most common articles ended in a conviction on that article. Article 134 had 19 convictions in 19 cases, with a median confinement of 1.2 years. Assault under Article 128 had 17 of 17, with a median of 10 months.
Orders violations under Article 92 had 16 of 16, with a median of 5 months. False official statements under Article 107 had 10 of 10, with a median of 4 months. A conviction on one article and an acquittal on another can happen in the same case, so these rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 19 | 19 (100%) | 1.2 years |
| Art. 128 Assault | 17 | 17 (100%) | 10 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 16 | 16 (100%) | 5 months |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 10 | 10 (100%) | 4 months |
Which Charges Were Most Common?
Of the 70 cases, 60 have a charge list. A case with several articles counts under each one. Article 134 appeared in 32% of those 60, compared with 18% service-wide. Article 92 appeared in 27%, compared with 18%. Article 107 appeared in 17%, compared with 8%. Domestic violence under Article 128b was charged in 10% of cases here and 3% service-wide.
Drug charges under Article 112a were less common than elsewhere: 12%, compared with 25%. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 28%, about the same as the 31% service-wide.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 19 | 32% | 18% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 17 | 28% | 31% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 16 | 27% | 18% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 10 | 17% | 8% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 7 | 12% | 9% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 7 | 12% | 25% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 6 | 10% | 9% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 6 | 10% | 3% |
Pleas Where They Are Recorded
Only 38 of the 70 Quantico records list a plea. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of those, 25 were guilty pleas and 13 were contested. That is 34% contested, compared with 31% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Cases charging Article 128 ended in a guilty plea 71% of the time (10 of 14), the most among the top charges. Article 134 cases ended in a guilty plea 46% of the time (6 of 13). No reason for any plea appears in the records.
Sentences After Conviction
Of 70 cases, 60 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 45 of those sentences included confinement (75%). Quantico's median confinement of 6 months was the same as the median in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. At the upper end, a quarter of the sentences here were 1.5 years or longer.
A quarter of convictions (25%) carried no confinement at all, compared with 17% service-wide. 13 of 60 convictions (22%) carried more than one year, about the same as the 24% service-wide. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 15 | 25% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 19 | 32% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 13 | 22% | 24% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 10 | 17% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 5% | 5% |
Special Courts-Martial Handled Most Cases
Quantico had 25 general and 45 special courts-martial. The general share, 36%, was lower than the 44% across the Navy and Marine Corps. 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.
In general courts-martial, 50% of cases were contested, and the median confinement was 1.6 years. In special courts-martial, 25% were contested, and the median confinement was 3 months.
Punitive Discharges and Rank
23 convicted enlisted members received a bad-conduct discharge and 12 received a dishonorable discharge. That is 60% of enlisted convictions, about the same as the 63% Navy and Marine Corps rate. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer here was not dismissed. Members sentenced without a punitive discharge can still be administratively separated later.
Junior enlisted members, E-1 to E-4, made up 69% of the accused, compared with 64% service-wide. NCOs made up 29% and officers 2%.
Earlier Years at Quantico
Quantico had 37 cases in 2013–2018, over the 3 years with cases on record, about 12 a year. Since 2019, it has had about 14 a year, counting full years only.
Median confinement was 3 months in the earlier period and 6 months in the later one. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members were 43% earlier and 60% later. Convictions with confinement were 66% earlier and 75% later. The general court-martial share was 41% earlier and 36% later. Groups this small change with a few cases, so these figures show direction, not precise size.
| 2013–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 37 | 70 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 1 of 3 | 34% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 0 of 1 | 0 of 13 |
| Convictions with confinement | 66% | 75% |
| Median confinement | 3 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 43% | 60% |
| General courts-martial | 41% | 36% |
Compared With Mayport and Jacksonville
Mayport, Florida tried 69 cases and Jacksonville, Florida 77 in the same years. Both had higher contested shares: 48% and 41%. Both had full acquittals: 11 of 33 at Mayport and 16 of 31 at Jacksonville. The median confinement was 6 months at Mayport and 4 months at Jacksonville. The punitive discharge rates for enlisted members were 52% and 40%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantico, Virginia | 70 | 34% | 0 of 13 | 6 months | 60% |
| Mayport, Florida | 69 | 48% | 11 of 33 | 6 months | 52% |
| Jacksonville, Florida | 77 | 41% | 16 of 31 | 4 months | 40% |
Dates and What the Records Cannot Show
The cases were tried from January 2019 to December 2023: 12 in 2019, 12 in 2020, 17 in 2021, 15 in 2022, and 14 in 2023. They were 4% of the 1,991 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years. Offense dates are not in the records, only trial dates. They also do not show 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 in the data tried at Quantico, Virginia with a trial date in 2019–2023 (70 cases), compared with all 1,991 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
- Quantico, Virginia: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Quantico, Virginia Courts-Martial, 2013–2018: What 37 Cases Show (another period)
- Quantico, Virginia Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 49 Cases Show (another period)
- Inside 69 Courts-Martial at Mayport, Florida, 2019–2023 (same years, similar size)
- What Was Tried at Jacksonville, Florida, 2019–2023? 77 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Orders Violation Cases at Quantico, Virginia: 2017–2018 vs. 2019–2023
- Did General Article Cases at Quantico, Virginia Change After 2024?
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Quantico, Virginia, 2019–2023
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.