A Year of Courts-Martial at Quantico, Virginia: 2025
Quantico, Virginia had 22 courts-martial in 2025, and 55% of the cases with a plea recorded were contested, compared with 37% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months service-wide.
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Trends › By Installation › Quantico, Virginia › 2025
Short answer: Quantico, Virginia had 22 courts-martial in 2025, and 55% of the cases with a plea recorded were contested, compared with 37% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months service-wide. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 27% of cases, compared with 10%.
A High Share of Contested Cases
In 12 cases, the accused entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. In 10, the accused pleaded guilty. A not-guilty or mixed plea makes a case contested.
The contested share, 55%, is higher than the 37% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2025.
How Contested Cases Ended
Of the 12 contested cases with a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal (25%). The rate across the Navy and Marine Corps was 27%, close to the rate here.
Another 4 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal (33%). A partial acquittal means a finding of not guilty on at least one charge or specification and guilty on another.
Drug Charges and Other Articles
All 22 records list the charges, and one case can count under several articles. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 6 cases (27%), compared with 10% service-wide.
Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 5 cases (23%), about the same as the 24% service-wide. Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 3 cases (14%), compared with 7%. Article 131b (obstructing justice) and Article 81 (conspiracy) each appeared in 2 cases (9%).
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 27% | 10% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 23% | 24% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 18% | 21% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 14% | 11% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 14% | 7% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 9% | 4% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 2 | 9% | 6% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 2 | 9% | 6% |
Confinement for Convicted Members
Of 19 convictions, 10 carried confinement. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. Among the sentences that included confinement, a quarter were 1.5 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Punitive Discharges
Of 15 convicted enlisted members, 8 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (53%), and 3 of those were dishonorable. The service-wide share was 46%.
The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank and Court Level
Among the accused with rank recorded, 11 were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 7 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. Across the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps, 62% were junior enlisted, so this group was more senior.
General courts-martial made up 14 of the 22 cases (64%). A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, while a special court-martial caps confinement at one year.
Okinawa and Norfolk
Okinawa, Japan tried 20 cases and Norfolk, Virginia tried 31. Their contested shares were 20% and 23%, both lower than at Quantico. Norfolk had the longest median confinement of the 3, at 1 year. Okinawa matched Quantico's punitive discharge share of 53%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantico, Virginia | 22 | 55% | 3 of 12 | 8 months | 53% |
| Okinawa, Japan | 20 | 20% | 2 of 4 | 6 months | 53% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 31 | 23% | 0 of 7 | 1 year | 46% |
Law Changes and Record Limits
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so the 2025 cases may mix old-rule and new-rule cases.
The records also do not describe the evidence or the 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 tried at Quantico, Virginia with a trial date in 2025 (22 cases).
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 Year (hub)
- Quantico, Virginia in 2024: 17 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- Quantico, Virginia Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 49 Cases Show (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2021
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Quantico, Virginia, 2025
- Benjamin Adams
- Stacy Allen
- Derek Butler
- Cory Carver
- Thomas Fricton
- Gable Hackman
- Ryan Lipton
- William Mossor
- Kyle Phillips
- Derek Poteet
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.