16 Conspiracy Courts-Martial at San Diego, California, 2013–2017: What the Records Show
San Diego, California had 16 courts-martial charging Article 81 (conspiracy) from 2013 through 2017. Only 1 accused contested a charge (6%), compared with 15% in Navy and Marine Corps Article 81 cases overall.
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Trends › By Installation › San Diego, California › Article 81, 2013–2017
Short answer: San Diego, California had 16 courts-martial charging Article 81 (conspiracy) from 2013 through 2017. Only 1 accused contested a charge (6%), compared with 15% in Navy and Marine Corps Article 81 cases overall. All 15 convictions included confinement, with a median of 7 months, and 64% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge.
Almost Every Accused Pleaded Guilty
15 of the 16 accused pleaded guilty. 1 contested at least one charge, meaning a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 6%. In Navy and Marine Corps Article 81 cases overall, it was 15%.
Confinement for Every Conviction
There were 15 convictions, and all 15 sentences included confinement. The median was 7 months, close to the 8 months for Navy and Marine Corps-wide Article 81 cases. Among the sentences that included confinement, a quarter were 2 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A conspiracy charge is usually tied to another offense, and the sentence covers every charge in the case.
Drug and Larceny Charges Were the Usual Partners
15 of the 16 cases charged at least one other article. Article 112a (drug) and Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 7 cases each. Article 107 (false official statement) appeared in 3. Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019) appeared in 2, and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 1.
Punitive Discharges
A punitive discharge followed 64% of the enlisted convictions: 7 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 81 cases in 2013–2017, the share was 78%.
1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears in these cases, and that officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
A More Senior Mix of Accused
10 accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 5 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 81 cases in 2013–2017, 74% were junior enlisted, so the San Diego group was more senior.
Court Level
General courts-martial made up 44% of these cases (7 of 16). That level can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. The other cases went to special courts-martial, where confinement is capped at one year.
Timing and the Later Law Change
The trials ran from January 2013 to May 2017: 3 in 2013, 0 in 2014, 5 in 2015, 4 in 2016, and 4 in 2017. They were 6% of the 249 courts-martial at San Diego, California in 2013–2017.
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, after all of these trials. Its fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial, and written plea agreements did not apply here.
Gaps in the Records
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, and the plea counts use only the records that list one.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Courts-martial tried at San Diego, California in 2013–2017 that charged Article 81 (16 cases), compared with every Navy and Marine Corps case charging Article 81 in those years.
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
- San Diego, California: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Article 81 (Conspiracy): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- San Diego, California Courts-Martial, 2013–2018: What 285 Cases Show
- Inside 173 Courts-Martial at San Diego, California, 2019–2023
- San Diego, California Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 126 Cases Show
- Fewer or More? Conspiracy Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025
- 24 Conspiracy Courts-Martial at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 2017–2018: What the Records Show
- 25 Conspiracy Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington, 2013–2018: What the Records Show
- 27 Conspiracy Courts-Martial at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 2019–2023: What the Records Show
- 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.