Naval Station Everett: A Modern Homeport on Puget Sound
On the waterfront at Everett, on Possession Sound about thirty miles north of Seattle, Naval Station Everett is the Navy's Pacific Northwest surface homeport, the berth for a group of Arleigh Burke destroyers and the home of the staffs that run them, set on what the Navy calls its most modern shore installation. Sailors and families settle in Everett and out toward Marysville, Lake Stevens, and Mukilteo, under gray, wet winters and dry, mild summers, with the Boeing factory a local landmark and Seattle close. A surface fleet command protects the readiness of its ships and moves fast against a Sailor who steps wrong.
Military defense is all Bilecki Law Group does, and Sailors fly us in from our office in Tampa because a contested court martial is decided by trial experience, and we bring it wherever the case is.
The Officer Who Took Command of the Burning Cruiser
The standard for a surface Sailor was set by Lieutenant Commander Bruce McCandless aboard the cruiser San Francisco in the night battle off Savo Island on November 12, 1942. When the admiral, the captain, and the navigator were all killed or wounded and McCandless himself was hurt, he took command of the damaged ship, kept her in the fight against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy force, and fought her through and back to port to fight again. He took the conn when there was no one left to give the order and would not let the ship go down. That is the standard we bring to a case at Everett.
Why Sailors at Everett Bring Us In
We win court martial cases. Military defense is all we do, and Sailors fly us in from all over the country because of our trial record. The military justice system is not built to find the truth; it exists to preserve good order and discipline, and a surface fleet command will make an example of a Sailor to protect the readiness of its ships. A serious case is investigated by NCIS, and for sexual assault and other covered offenses the decision to refer charges to a court martial no longer belongs to your command but goes to an independent Special Trial Counsel. Your detailed counsel from the Defense Service Office may be capable but carries a heavy caseload inside the same system, which is why Sailors serious about winning bring in their own counsel.
UCMJ Charges We Defend at Naval Station Everett
These are among the most common allegations at Naval Station Everett. The list is not exhaustive, and we defend the full range of UCMJ charges.
Sexual Assault and Sex Offenses (UCMJ Article 120 / Article 134). These allegations route to an independent Special Trial Counsel now, and the command treats a report as established before the investigation is finished, all the more so on a ship where word of an allegation travels fast. These cases demand counsel who will run an independent investigation and contest the case rather than let the allegation stand in for proof, because a conviction can mean confinement and a federal record, with registration required for a covered sex offense under the applicable federal and state law.
Domestic Violence and Assault (UCMJ Articles 128b and 128). Domestic violence under Article 128b is charged as aggressively as any offense in the UCMJ since the Office of Special Trial Counsel took these cases over. It covers a spouse, an intimate partner, or a family member, and it treats strangulation or suffocation as its own charge that the government can bring even with no visible injury. A qualifying conviction also triggers the federal Lautenberg firearms bar, which can end a Navy career because a Sailor has to be able to carry a weapon. We also defend assault under Article 128, the usual charge when a night out in Everett or Seattle ends in a fight, where self defense is a recognized defense.
Larceny and Government Property (UCMJ Articles 121 and 108). A ship and its support activities are issued and sign for a great deal of gear, parts, and equipment, and accountability is taken seriously. The government treats missing gear, an item that cannot be reconciled, or property that walked off as larceny under Article 121 or wrongful disposition of military property under Article 108, but a shortage on an inventory is not the same as theft, and the government still has to prove the state of mind required by the charged offense: intent for larceny or fraud, or negligence where Article 108 permits it, not just that something cannot be found.
Drugs and Off Duty Conduct (UCMJ Articles 112a and 134). Drug cases often turn on the chain of custody and the government's burden to prove any use was knowing and wrongful. Marijuana is one to keep in mind: it is legal in Washington, but it is still a federal controlled substance and a court martial offense under Article 112a, and being legal off base does not make it lawful for a Sailor. A positive test is evidence the government may use to argue knowing, wrongful use, not an automatic finding of guilt, so the collection, the chain of custody, and whether any use was knowing all remain the government's to prove.
A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending
We do not pretend that every Sailor who calls us from Everett is innocent. What matters is how serious the case is, not your rank. If a matter is genuinely minor, your detailed defense counsel can handle it, and we will tell you so honestly. But when the case is serious, everything is on the line at once: your career, your retirement, your good name, and your freedom. A court martial conviction is a federal criminal conviction, and the applicable sentencing parameters tie a confinement range to the offense, two and a half to ten years for sexual assault and ten to twenty for rape, that a judge can depart from only by stating specific facts in writing, on top of any required or adjudged punitive discharge and, on a covered sex offense, sex offender registration. That is why you fight. The court’s jurisdiction and the convicted offense determine which sentencing rules apply; some offenses use separate sentencing criteria rather than these ranges.
If you are facing an investigation or court martial at Naval Station Everett, reach out for a free defense strategy session. We will tell you exactly what you are facing and how we would defend it. The government is already building its case. The only question is whether anyone is building yours.
FAQ
NCIS wants to interview me at Everett. Do I have to talk to them?
No. You are not required to sit for an NCIS interview or answer their questions. Under Article 31b of the UCMJ you have the right to remain silent and to a lawyer, and you can invoke both at any point, including before the interview begins. NCIS is collecting evidence, not giving you a chance to explain, and it takes very little to be titled as a subject, a label that follows you for years. Decline, ask for counsel, and call a defense lawyer before you give any statement.
Something happened off base in Snohomish County or Seattle. Can the Navy court martial me for it too?
Yes. Washington and the military are separate sovereigns, so the same incident can be handled by the local authorities and by a court martial, and a civilian dismissal or even an acquittal does not end the UCMJ exposure. The command does not have to wait for the county prosecutor, and a statement to one system can be used by the other, so do not talk to the police or NCIS until you have a defense lawyer.
I'm under an Article 120 investigation. Will I have to register as a sex offender if I'm convicted?
A court martial conviction for a covered Article 120 offense triggers registration duties under the applicable federal and state law, with requirements and duration determined by the covered conviction and jurisdiction. The entire defense is aimed at defeating the charge or reducing it to an offense that carries no registration, and the investigation and the charging decision are where these cases are most often turned. Get your own counsel involved before you ever sit down with NCIS.