> ## 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.

# Article 112a Cases at San Diego, California, 2013–2018: 85 Courts-Martial
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/san-diego-california-article-112a-2013-2018/
- Published: 2026-10-28T06:51:34.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T01:47:32.000Z
- Description: Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 85 courts-martial at San Diego, California from 2013 to 2018, 30% of the 285 tried there. In 78 of them the accused pleaded guilty.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, San Diego, California, Article 112a, Navy-Marine Corps

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) › [San Diego, California](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-san-diego-california/) › Article 112a, 2013–2018

**Short answer:** Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 85 courts-martial at San Diego, California from 2013 to 2018, 30% of the 285 tried there. In 78 of them the accused pleaded guilty. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 6 months service-wide, and 68% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 73% across Navy and Marine Corps drug cases.

Based on 85 cases · 2013–2018 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Drug Cases Were 30% of All Cases

Drug cases were 30% of all courts-martial at San Diego in these years: 85 of 285\. The cases run from January 2013 to December 2018\. By year, there were 9 in 2013, 15 in 2014, 16 in 2015, 16 in 2016, 18 in 2017, and 11 in 2018.

Most were special courts-martial. Special courts-martial tried 77 of the cases and general courts-martial tried 8\. The general share of 9% is lower than the 21% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases in 2013–2018.

## Most of the Accused Pleaded Guilty

Of the 85 accused, 78 pleaded guilty and 7 contested at least one charge. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 8%, lower than the 11% in Navy and Marine Corps-wide drug cases.

The records do not include plea terms, so they cannot show what any accused received in exchange for a guilty plea. The 85 cases produced 79 convictions. Only 7 cases were contested, so this post does not give an acquittal rate. A percentage based on so few verdicts would say little about how contested drug cases end at San Diego.

## Almost Every Sentence Included Confinement

Of 79 convictions, 78 included confinement (99%). The median confinement was 5 months, about the same as the 6 months median across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of confinement sentences were 8 months or longer.

Confinement under 6 months was the most common result: 46 convictions (58%), compared with 50% service-wide. Another 24 convictions (30%) carried 6 months to 1 year. Sentences longer than one year were 8 of 79 convictions (10%). That is less often than the 17% in Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases overall. No sentence was 5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide Article 112a cases |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 1           | 1%         | 4%                                                   |
| Under 6 months                  | 46          | 58%        | 50%                                                  |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 24          | 30%        | 29%                                                  |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8           | 10%        | 14%                                                  |
| 5 years or more                 | 0           | 0%         | 3%                                                   |

## Most Punitive Discharges Were Bad-Conduct Discharges

Of 78 enlisted members convicted, 53 received a punitive discharge (68%). That is less often than the 73% in all Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases in 2013–2018\. Only 4 of those 53 were dishonorable discharges. The rest were bad-conduct discharges.

The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not track.

A special court-martial, which tried most of these cases, caps confinement at one year. It can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.

## Most of the Accused Were Junior Enlisted

By rank, the accused were 69 junior enlisted members, 13 NCOs, and 3 officers. That group was more junior than in Navy and Marine Corps Article 112a cases overall. Of the 3 officers charged, 1 was convicted.

The records do not show how long any accused had served, what drug was involved, or how it was detected.

## AWOL Was the Most Common Other Charge

In 44 of the 85 cases, at least one other article was charged. Article 86 (AWOL) was the most common, in 21 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 8, Article 81 (conspiracy) in 7, and Article 107 (false official statement) and Article 121 (larceny) in 5 each.

A sentence covers every charge in the case. A sentence in a drug case that also charged an absence or a theft reflects all of those charges together. AWOL was charged with the drug offense in 21 cases, more often than any other article.

## The Rules Before 2019

Every trial here came before January 1, 2019, when the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect. 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. None of those changes applied to these cases. A separate post covers the same installation from 2019 to 2023\. The records cannot show whether any difference between the periods came from the law.

## What the Records Cannot Show

These records cover only cases that went to court-martial. Drug use handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation is not included. The records also do not show the evidence or plea terms. They give trial dates, not offense dates. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the forum, so these records do not show who decided guilt.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 112a on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Courts-martial tried at San Diego, California in 2013–2018 that charged Article 112a (85 cases), compared with every Navy and Marine Corps case charging Article 112a in those years.

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

- [San Diego, California: Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-san-diego-california/) (hub)
- [Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) (hub)
- [San Diego, California Courts-Martial, 2013–2018: What 285 Cases Show](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/san-diego-california-courts-martial-2013-2018/)
- [Inside 173 Courts-Martial at San Diego, California, 2019–2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/san-diego-california-courts-martial-2019-2023/)
- [San Diego, California Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 126 Cases Show](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/san-diego-california-courts-martial-2024-2026/)
- [Drug Cases at San Diego, California: 2013–2018 vs. 2019–2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/san-diego-california-article-112a-before-after-2019/)
- [Is Navy-Marine Corps Drug Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 112a, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-112a-trend-2017-2025/)
- [S3 E52: What You Need to Know About Positive UAs in the Military](https://www.bodiesburied.com/s3e52-what-you-need-to-know-about-positive-uas-in-the-military/) (podcast, members)
- [Article 112a explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members)

**Compare: federal court.** [Federal Law Has No Crime of Drug Use: How Article 112a Cases Compare](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-no-crime-of-drug-use-article-112a/) · [Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-importation-vs-article-112a/)

**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.